NSG Group will invest in updates to its Pilkington United Kingdom Limited facilities in Merseyside, United Kingdom. The multi-million-dollar investments include moving Pilkington UK’s Watson Street manufacturing operations to the company’s Greengate site in St. Helens.
The Greengate furnace will be upgraded to accommodate flat glass production while adding the additional output required from the relocation of the Watson Street rolled glass manufacturing line. The Watson Street facility will be shut down. Employees will be relocated to Greengate.
Pilkington UK officials state that producing all glass out of the upgraded furnace, rather than running two, will save carbon emissions equivalent to taking 8,800 cars off the road each year.
“This project represents one of the single biggest investments we’ve made in our UK manufacturing facilities in decades and will ultimately secure the future of rolled glass manufacturing in the UK,” says Neil Syder, managing director. “Working out of one furnace will enable us to make a permanent and significant saving in CO2 emissions. It’s a radical shift in how we operate, but we know that if we are to achieve our net-zero ambitions, we must make changes across all areas of our business.”
The work will begin in August 2023, with the line expected to be running by August 2024. The Watson Street facility will remain open until then, with no impact expected on the availability of glass while the work takes place.
The project, supported by not-for-profit research and technology organization Glass Futures will benefit from a $4 million* grant via the UK government’s Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, which helps cover the costs of industrial energy efficiency and decarbonization projects in the UK.
*Converted from EUR to USD.
