The Glass Futures scheme in St Helens will involve building a 158,000 sq ft glass furnace research and development centre, capable of producing 30 tonnes of sustainable glass a day.
The ultimate goal of the industry research project will be to eliminate CO2 from the production process.
The research factory will be built on a 14-acre site adjacent to St Helens’ Rugby League ‘Totally Wicked’ stadium.
Government today announced it would support the ground-breaking project with £15m funding.
This comes on top of a £9m pledge from the Liverpool City Region announced earlier this year and a similar sum from St Helens Council.
Companies from around the glass sector are also set to contribute around £20m funding.
Glass Futures’ chief executive Richard Katz, said: “This £15m funding is an essential catalyst to kickstart the delivery of Glass Futures’ £54m Global Centre of Excellence in St Helens, an area rich in glass history.
“The state-of-the-art R&D facility will enable Glass Futures and its members to work collaboratively to research and develop innovative solutions enhancing resource efficiency, moving the industry closer to sustainable low-carbon glass production and increasing productivity.”
The facility will attract inward investment to the north-west of England as leading players across the glass supply chain and academia begin to use the facility for R&D, training, conferences and even as a new base for parts of their business.