Glass Futures

Glass Futures is a not-for-profit research and technology organisation based in St Helens in the Liverpool City Region, building on the town's proud two-century heritage as the global centre of glassmaking innovation. Its £54 million Global Centre of Excellence — opened in 2023 with support from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, UKRI and St Helens Borough Council — is home to the world's first openly accessible, multi-fuel pilot-scale glass furnace, capable of producing up to 30 tonnes of glass per day using a combination of low-carbon energy sources including green electricity, hydrogen and sustainable biofuels.

The facility allows glass manufacturers from across the UK and internationally to trial decarbonisation technologies at industrial scale, without the risks and costs of running trials on live production lines. Glass Futures connects directly with the North West industrial cluster: hydrogen produced through the HyNet North West programme is one of the key fuel sources being trialled at the St Helens furnace, and the facility has close links with North West glass manufacturers including Encirc and Pilkington.

Glass Futures positions the North West - and St Helens specifically - as the global leader in the decarbonisation of glass and other energy-intensive foundation industries, including ceramics, steel, metals, chemicals and cement.