Glass giant Pilkington UK completes what it says is the ‘biggest investment in St Helens in decades’, opening a new multi-million pound glass production line in the town. Tony McDonough reports
Glassmaker Pilkington UK has opened a new glass production line in St Helens which it says will save 15,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions in the town every year.
In 2024 Pilkington, part of the Japanese NSG Group, closed its Watson Street furnace and production line at which had been in operation for almost 200 years.
It decided to move production onto one site at the nearby Greengate site. Pilkington says this new multi-million pound rolled texture glass production facility represents its “biggest investment in St Helens in decades”.
This line 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.
Neil Syder, managing director of Pilkington UK, said: “Texture by Pilkington has been manufactured by our team in St Helens since 1852 and we’re proud to continue that legacy with this new rolled glass line.
“It represents a meaningful step forward, not just in securing the future of texture glass manufacturing, but in significantly lowering the carbon footprint of the range.”
St Helens has long been associated with glassmaking. In 1773, the British Caste Plate Glass Company was established at Ravenhead, now part of the town. 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.
Then in June 2006, Japanese glassmaker Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG) completed a £1.8bn takeover of the firm.
Investing in the new line supports Pilkington UK’s wider sustainability goals, which include a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 2018 levels and achieving net zero by 2050.
Describing the project as an “incredible feat of engineering”, Neil added: “To build the new line, our team needed to break into the side of a live glass furnace, constructing a canal that takes glass away from our current float line to the new rolled glass line in a separate building.
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“This work now enables us to manufacture all our glass from one furnace, which saves us 15,000 tonnes of CO2 per year: the equivalent of taking over 8,800 cars off the road for a year.
“By investing in our Greengate Works site, we’re building on nearly 200 years of glassmaking heritage and innovation while positioning ourselves to meet the changing needs of our industry as it decarbonises.”