Pilkington UK Hosts Europe's First Carbon Capture Trial in Flat Glass Industry

Pilkington United Kingdom Limited, part of the NSG Group, announced the successful launch of Europe's first carbon capture trial in the flat glass industry, alongside partners C-Capture and Glass Futures.

On Dec. 12, 2023, the project partners met at the Pilkington UK site to see the carbon capture unit in action. The unit captures carbon from the float furnaces flue which, in future, could then be stored or further utilized.

The trial forms part of C-Capture’s national "XLR8 CCS – Accelerating the Deployment of a Low-Cost Carbon Capture Solution for Hard-to-Abate Industries" project, which aims to demonstrate that a low-cost carbon capture solution is a reality for difficult-to-decarbonize industries in the race to net-zero. 

The carbon capture trial is now successfully underway in St Helens, UK, at Pilkington UK’s glass manufacturing site, part of NSG Group. It is the first demonstration of a carbon-capture technology on an industrial flat glass furnace in Europe. 

Project success will see C-Capture and its project partners well placed for deployment of commercial-scale carbon capture facilities across the three industries by 2030, which could capture millions of tons of carbon dioxide per year.