For more than two centuries St Helens has been a global hub for glass manufacturing and in the last few days has, literally, lit two new glassmaking flames that will hopefully burn long into the future. Tony McDonough reports

 

This week has been a tale of two furnaces for St Helens, a provincial town that unlike many others in the UK, has held on to its traditional industry.

Glassmaking has been an intrinsic part of St Helens since 1773 when the British Caste Plate Glass Company was established at Ravenhead. In 1826 St Helens Crown Glass Company was founded by the Pilkington and Greenhall families.

In 1845 the name of the business was changed to Pilkington Brothers and the Pilkington name became famous across the world for glassmaking excellence. In June 2006, Japanese glassmaker Nippon Sheet Glass completed a £1.8bn takeover of the firm.

In 2024 Pilkington UK closed its Watson Street furnace and production line which had been in operation for almost 200 years. But this was far from another sad tale of Britain’s industrial decline.

With one eye on its net zero commitments ‘Pilks’, as it is affectionately known locally, decided to move production onto one site at the nearby Greengate facility. This multi-million pound rolled texture glass production furnace represents its “biggest investment in St Helens in decades”.

It will manufacture Pilkington UK’s Texture by Pilkington glass range, featuring 21 original designs and textures used for privacy and style in interior design. This project was supported by a £3.7m grant via the Government’s Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.

Decarbonising glass production presents significant challenges. A glassmaking furnace is typically heated to between 1,500 and 1,600 degrees celsius but can be as hot as 2,000 degrees celsius.

Pilkington says the move to one site at Greengate will cut annual CO2 emissions by 15,000 tonnes, the equivalent of taking over 8,800 cars off the road for a year.

It is also working with Grenian, a joint venture between Progressive Energy and Statkraft. Both companies are partners in the multi-billion pound North West hydrogen production and carbon capture project HyNet.

Grenian is looking to fuel the furnace at Pilkington with so-called ‘green hydrogen’. This is hydrogen produced by running electricity, generated from a renewable source such as wind or solar, through a device called an electrolysed.

And it isn’t just Pilkington that is looking at ways to decarbonise glass production in St Helens. Also in the last few days, the £54m Glass Futures project in the town lit its furnace for the first time.

Opened in June 2023, Glass Futures is tasked with seeking new low carbon ways of making glass. It has seen the creation of around 80 jobs.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority invested £9m into the project. Further funding came from the Government’s UK Research and Innovation fund. Glass sector companies have contributed around £20m in resource, time and equipment.

 

 

 

Its new furnace is able to use low-carbon fuels including green electricity, hydrogen and biofuels (such as used cooking oils). Reaching temperatures of 1,600 degrees celsius, it can produce more than two miles of flat glass a day.

This pilot line is smaller in size than an industrial production line allowing rapid innovation with results that can be scaled up for industry.

Fully automated with Siemens control technology it has high-definition cameras allowing for real-time adjustments to optimise energy use and glass quality.

High-powered electric boosting for the furnace – equivalent to the energy usage in 2,000 homes – means it can melt raw materials faster supporting carbon emissions reductions of up to 56%.

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Justin Kelly, chief executive of Glass Futures, said: “Today marks a defining moment – not just for Glass Futures, our members and St Helens but for the entire global glass and foundation industries.

“There is no other facility in the world capable of producing both flat (like windows) and container glass (like drinks bottles) using such a wide range of sustainable fuel sources, including electric melting.

“This isn’t just about decarbonising glass – it’s about working with our membership to transform global manufacturing.

“We were profiled in the government’s Industrial Strategy this week for our work in translating and commercialising new technologies and processes such as using sustainable fuels to develop new materials.

“By hosting trials for manufacturing partners and members from across the UK, Europe and internationally, we’re set to influence production standards worldwide, reducing emissions and supporting other energy intensive sectors such as ceramics and steel.”