£40million glass research centre plan ‘moving towards reality’
9th July 2019

Glass industry leaders will hear later this month how plans for a new £40million glass research facility are moving ‘from ambition to reality’ as the Glass Futures organisation meets to hear how the facility can benefit the£1.6billion sector in the UK.

The purpose-built research facility, aimed to based on the former United Glass site in St Helens, will include an experimental glass furnace capable of producing 30 tonnes of glass a day and is said to be the only one of its kind in the world.

The town will also host the conference on July 23, where the Glass Futures Advisory Board will outline to industry leaders how their business can benefit from the facility as part of over £60million of funding leveraged to help business to ‘decarbonise and innovate’.

Dave Dalton, CEO of British Glass and a member of the Advisory Board told The Glazine: “The plan for the St Helens facility has been under discussion for some time but we are now at the stage where it is moving from ambition to reality and we will be discussing the plan in detail when we meet on the 23rd.”

The furnace is aimed mainly at exploring green technologies such as waste heat recovery, low-carbon fuels and carbon capture as well as new raw materials and advanced process control systems. It is expected to be ready to begin working trials by the end of next year.