Essity has secured US$2.2 million in funding from the United Kingdom government to upgrade the company’s Tawd Mill paper product manufacturing facility in Skelmersdale, England.

The company’s production facility will be conducting a trial of replacing natural gas with renewable hydrogen in its tissue production process, Hydrogen Fuel News reports.

Traditionally, paper production has used natural gas to achieve the high temperatures required for the tissue to be dried properly, resulting in the release of carbon dioxide emissions.

If successful, the change has the potential to lower the carbon dioxide emissions that are currently produced from the paper manufacturing process by 66 per cent.

“We are committed to reducing our own carbon emissions by 35 per cent by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050,” said Andrew Hearns, Essity spokesperson.

“If this trial is successful, replacing natural gas with low carbon hydrogen would dramatically reduce [carbon dioxide] emissions at Tawd and is a major step in the right direction to help us achieve our environmental goals.”

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