We have reached the half-way stage of the £30m project to build a new state-of-the-art glass furnace at our factory in Eggborough, near Selby, North Yorkshire. This is a major milestone and has been reached on-time according to the project plan, which has a scheduled completion date of late summer 2021.
Project Manager Mick Dickinson (below) installed the last key refractory brick in the roof of the new furnace, which comprises more than 7000 tonnes of the specialist building blocks.
The complex engineering and construction programme will deliver a more energy efficient furnace with enlarged capacity, greater automation and enhanced control systems.
The new facility is strategically important to support and serve the UK window industry with domestically manufactured high-performance products developed specifically to meet the needs of the UK window industry.
The new furnace will:
• have increased capacity
• provide greater automation
• have enhanced control systems
• use the very latest equipment and integrated digital technologies
• reduce the energy used for glass production
• reduce emissions from the manufacturing process
• secure the long-term supply of high-performance glass that meets the stringent quality requirements of customers in the UK.
‘Making the World a Better Home’
It will contribute to the Saint-Gobain Group’s commitment to achieving ‘net-zero carbon’ of its global business operations, and deliver its global strategic purpose which the Group has recently defined as ‘Making the World a Better Home’, in recognition of the need to protect the planet and invent a more sustainable future.
The new facility demonstrates Saint-Gobain’s commitment to the long-term future of glass manufacturing in the UK and confidence in the wider construction industry.
Read our previous news story about the launch of the project here.