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Dow and Mura Technology to scale game-changing advanced recycling of plastics

With its proprietary technology, Mura hopes to ensure one million tonnes of recycling capacity in development worldwide by 2025.


Filed under
Plastic
 
April 24 2021
 
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Dow and Mura Technology announced a partnership to scale up Mura’s new advanced plastic recycling solution. The partnership will combine Dow’s materials science capabilities, global scale and financial resources with Mura’s technology, to produce the feedstocks which are then converted into the recycled circular plastics that consumers and global brands are increasingly seeking.

Mura’s proprietary solution, HydroPRS (Hydrothermal Plastic Recycling Solution), is an advanced recycling process that uses supercritical steam to convert plastics back into the chemicals and oils from which they were made, for use in new, virgin-equivalent plastic products. HydroPRS can recycle all forms of plastic including multi-layer, flexible plastics used in packaging, which are currently harder to recycle and often incinerated or sent to landfill, as per the statement.

Importantly, the company says that the plastics produced using these recycled products are expected to be suitable for use in food-contact packaging, unlike most conventional recycling processes. With Mura’s process, the company says there is no anticipated limit to the number of times the same material can be recycled – meaning it has the potential to significantly reduce plastics being used once and make the raw ingredients for a circular plastics economy.  

The world’s first plant using HydroPRS is in development in Teesside, UK, with the first 20,000 tonne per year line expected to be operational in 2022. Once all four lines are complete, Mura says it will be able to recycle up to 80,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year, providing Dow with materials produced by the process.

Dow plans to use these materials to develop new, virgin-grade plastic for applications such as food packaging and other packaging products to be re-circulated into global supply chains, creating “a true circular plastics economy.”

Carsten Larsen, Commercial Director Plastic Circularity EMEA & APAC, Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics commented, “We are delighted to offer our investment and expertise to support the development of this truly game-changing recycling process. We are committed to enacting real change to stop plastic going to waste and accelerate moves towards a more circular economy. We know achieving this goal will take major innovation and investment and we can’t do it alone. That’s why our partnership with Mura is so exciting and why we believe it will form a key pillar of our recycling strategy going forward.”

Dr. Steve Mahon, CEO of Mura Technology, said, “Plastic pollution is a global challenge and our goal is to meet it head on by recapturing millions of tonnes of plastic waste every year and put them to work again as a valuable resource for the world’s biggest brands.”

 

 

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