Cardinal Glass Industries has committed to the world’s first carbon capture installation at the company’s Cardinal FG float glass facility in Winlock, Washington, USA. Cardinal has issued purchase orders and paid deposits for critical and long-lead project items. System operations are planned for the first quarter of 2029.
The project follows Cardinal’s feasibility, design and engineering work with K2-CO2 of Padova, Italy. The system is expected to capture approximately 130,000 metric tonnes of CO2 per year and is designed to remove up to 95 percent of CO2 from targeted float glass manufacturing process streams.
Float glass manufacturing requires continuous, high-temperature furnace operations. The process produces CO2 from the energy used to melt glass and from glassmaking raw materials. The Winlock system is being developed to address both sources within targeted process streams.
Cardinal is working with K2-CO2 to integrate the capture system into the operating float glass facility. Cardinal and K2-CO2 will use the controls and measurement instruments needed to monitor system performance. The project is not currently receiving government funding.
Cardinal is exploring potential future markets for the captured CO2.
Cardinal and K2-CO2 have also patented a system that enables the use of additional gases from the resulting flue gas. The work adapts carbon capture technology to the technical requirements of float glass production.
Cardinal has invested in emissions control, process efficiency and high-performance glass technologies across its float glass operations. The company has achieved minor-source status for regulated emissions across much of its float glass network.
Once the system is operating and its performance has been demonstrated, the expected reduction in embodied carbon in Cardinal glass can help customers offer products that support architects pursuing lower-embodied-carbon project requirements.
“This is not a one-time announcement; it is part of a broader roadmap,” said Bowie Neumayer, President of Cardinal Glass Industries. “The Winlock project gives us a defined first installation, a concrete operations target and the opportunity to generate the performance data needed to evaluate future deployment across additional float glass lines.”
Winlock is Cardinal’s first installation of this technology. Cardinal hopes to use what it learns there to support future deployment at other Cardinal float glass facilities.
System operations at Winlock are planned for Q1 2029. Cardinal expects to provide updates as installation, commissioning and validation milestones are reached.