Mr. P. Peter Pascali reports

PYROGENESIS PROVIDES UPDATE ON RECENT CONTRACT TO SUPPLY SPARC LAND-BASED WASTE DESTRUCTION SYSTEM IN NEW ZEALAND

Further to a client's press release dated Feb. 4, 2023, and PyroGenesis Canada Inc.'s press releases dated Jan. 10, 2023, and Sept. 13, 2022, PyroGenesis Canada Inc. can now provide important additional information on its recently signed contract for the purchase of its Sparc refrigerant waste destruction system by its client in New Zealand.

The company's Sparc system has been purchased as the core technology for New Zealand's national hazardous refrigerant collection and destruction initiative, the government-mandated organization known as Cool-Safe.

Cool-Safe, previously known as the Trust for the Destruction of Synthetic Refrigerants, is a product stewardship organization (PSO) established by the New Zealand government in 1993. Cool-Safe's mandate is to be a significant factor in the government of New Zealand's stated goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 by at least 35 per cent. This will be achieved by implementing its own 90-per-cent reduction target for hazardous refrigerants.

"When we originally announced this contract, we were limited in what we could reveal. Given their latest press release, we can now confirm that our client is a very large, government-mandated organization serving the whole of New Zealand and is comprised of not just one but nine advanced materials/chemical trading companies working together," said P. Peter Pascali, chief executive officer and chair of PyroGenesis. "As with most product stewardship organizations, these companies have been given the responsibility to oversee, in this case, the safe removal and disposal of the hazardous products they either manufacture or distribute. The nine companies within the Cool-Safe organization are significant players in their own right and include four that are large publicly traded multinationals and six that are 50-plus years old."

In addition to the nine large materials/chemical companies and distributors that are central to the Cool-Safe organization, the initiative serves all commercial businesses across New Zealand by way of a buyback program commenced in October, 2022. This program rewards companies that deposit their end-of-life refrigerants and refrigerant-based mechanicals at a Cool-Safe collection site. Additionally, through widespread marketing of the refrigerant disposal rules, both industry and consumers will be informed about the steps they can or must take regarding hazardous refrigerants -- all of which are expected to lead to a large uptake in the program and a growing need for the safe destruction capabilities by PyroGenesis's Sparc system.

"With the shift from voluntary to regulated handling of these waste streams, scheduled for 2024, combined with the relaunch and marketing of the Cool-Safe initiative, the collection and safe disposal of hazardous refrigerants in New Zealand, in our opinion, is only going to continue to grow," continued Mr. Pascali. "Until now, the organization has been sending collected refrigerants to a plant in Australia for destruction. With this purchase and construction of PyroGenesis's Sparc system, New Zealand will have its own onshore capabilities for the safe destruction of refrigerants. We are proud to play a key role in New Zealand's national initiative, and we look forward to a long partnership over the next several years as the project expands as expected."

Richard Lauder, chair of the Trust for the Destruction of Synthetic Refrigerants, confirmed: "... The purchase is an important milestone in New Zealand's mission to significantly reduce the negative impact from these refrigerants.

"Up until now, any of the refrigerants that we've collected for safe destruction have had to be shipped to Australia, which isn't an ideal solution. That's meant an increased environmental risk through offshore transportation of the refrigerants, associated carbon generation, and variable international shipping and destruction costs.

"By building our own destruction plant here in Aotearoa, we're eliminating those impacts and reaffirming our commitment to the Basel Convention, which aims to reduce the movement of hazardous waste between different nations.

"We're also bringing to Aotearoa world-class innovation and technology from PyroGenesis and new skills, knowledge and experience to our New Zealand based team to ensure we're doing everything we can to protect Aotearoa from the impact of climate change."

As previously announced, PyroGenesis has been contracted to design and build the Sparc refrigerant waste destruction system and will also supervise and support contractors in the system installation within a new facility being built by the Cool-Safe organization. The project has an approximate production-to-delivery timeline of 18 months, and the client has indicated it may require additional systems as the initiative grows now that collection of hazardous refrigerants has become mandated. This first system is contracted at approximately $6-million, not including continuing after-sales support of an indeterminate amount.

PyroGenesis's patented Sparc system is based on the technology platform originally developed by the company for both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force. It uses inexpensive steam as the plasma-forming gas to generate a hydrolysis reaction that destroys refrigerants, leading directly to significantly reduced operating costs when compared with processing more expensive gases, with cleaner operations and with no incineration. Powered by electricity, the Sparc system substantially reduces an operator's carbon footprint while concurrently eliminating ozone-depleting substances. The Sparc system is extremely versatile as it can also destroy other chemicals such as CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons), HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons), halons and PFCs (perfluorochemicals).

About PyroGenesis Canada Inc.

PyroGenesis Canada, a high-tech company, is a leader in the design, development, manufacture and commercialization of advanced plasma processes and sustainable solutions that reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) and are economically attractive alternatives to conventional dirty processes. PyroGenesis has created proprietary, patented and advanced plasma technologies that are being vetted and adopted by multiple multibillion-dollar industry leaders in four massive markets: iron ore pelletization, aluminum, waste management and additive manufacturing. With a team of experienced engineers, scientists and technicians working out of its Montreal office and its 3,800-square-metre and 2,940-square-metre manufacturing facilities, PyroGenesis maintains its competitive advantage by remaining at the forefront of technology development and commercialization. The operations are ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D certified, having been ISO certified since 1997.

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