3 Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland projects win the Carbon Fund

We’re pleased to share that 3 UK projects have been chosen as winning recipients of the latest tranche of funding from Saint-Gobain’s Carbon Fund. 

What is the Carbon Fund?

Saint-Gobain’s Carbon Fund is a fund dedicated to projects and initiatives that actively reduce our carbon footprint. In the past, previous winners have included projects to assist with energy efficiency in our buildings, ways to manage water and reduce wastage, and innovations to prevent waste and extraction of virgin raw materials.The Carbon Fund was created in 2021 to aid Saint-Gobain’s global mission to become net zero by 2050.

All projects are submitted to a panel for discussion before funding is given. In 2024, 14 projects won investment from the carbon fund, representing a potential saving of 12,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. 

This year’s winners

This year, 3 UK projects have been chosen as part of the carbon Fund, helping to improve Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland’s carbon neutrality across 3 different businesses and sites. 

Project 1: Infrared Heaters at Scotframe

At two Saint-Gobain’s Off-Site Solutions Division sites in Cumbernauld and Inverurie, the factories are heated using carbon-intensive and inefficient gas heating. Plus, thanks to poorly insulated buildings, the heat can’t be retained leading to a poorly heated factory, large energy costs, and high carbon emissions. To correct this, the team submitted a proposal to the Carbon Fund for a number of Infrared heaters to replace the existing system, not only saving an estimated 149 tonnes of CO₂ per year, but also enhancing the thermal comfort of the colleagues working at both sites. 

Project 2: Additional post-consumer glass recycling at customer sites

As part of the Saint-Gobain Glass GlassForever programme, almost 1 million tonnes of glass cullet has been delivered to the business, saving a huge amount of virgin raw material from extraction. To continue building on this significant impact, additional resources are needed at customer sites, allowing more cullet to be returned and increasing the circularity of the process. This Carbon Fund project will allow crushers to be deployed at two customer sites, recovering enough cullet to reduce scope 1,2&3 emissions by 700kg for very 1000kg of cullet recycled in the furnace. It will also allow Saint-Gobain Glass to continue delivering more HVAP products such as Orae glass, which has 42% less embodied carbon vs standard glass, providing reduced carbon solution for the built environment.

Project 3: “Rainford in Bloom” community transformation at Saint-Gobain Ceramics

This project looks at regenerating the biodiversity of an area local to the Saint-Gobain Ceramics site at Rainford. Climate change has impacted a local park, leading to large areas of flooding, making the area inhabitable for plants and wildlife.  A group of volunteer colleagues from Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland will repair the damage done by flooding and rejuvenate it with plants and trees, to encourage a more biodiverse habitat for the local wildlife., reinforcing Saint-Gobain’s purpose of “Making the world a Better Home” for all.