EUROPE – Mura Technology, an advanced plastic recycling specialist, has confirmed an additional strategic investment from Dow to further enable advanced recycling throughout the US and Europe.
The investment builds a collaboration that has seen the two companies commit to help eliminate global plastic pollution through the construction of multiple world-scale advanced recycling facilities in the US and Europe.
These facilities will add as much as 600 kilotons of aggregate advanced recycling capacity by 2030.
This new investment will enable Mura Technology to develop new HydroPRS plants, in which plastics are said to be separated, melted, and broken down, creating supercritical steam.
The produced steam is mixed with the plastic, heated, and sent to a reactor, where it is broken down further into liquid hydrocarbons and gas.
The hydrocarbons can then be used to manufacture new plastics and other materials, thus closing the loop on hard-to-recycle flexible and multi-layered plastics.
“Dow’s decision to make an investment in Mura Technology is the latest vote of confidence in our business strategy and our innovative, highly scalable technology, HydroPRS,” said Steve Mahon, chief executive officer at Mura Technology.
“We are excited to move forward with the creation of a series of financeable HydroPRS plants in Europe and the US that will accelerate a circular plastics economy.”
Diego Donoso, President of Dow’s Packaging and Specialty Plastics, added: “Mura brings an important element to Dow’s low-carbon circular plastics business model.
The collaboration not only accelerates the strategic transformation of our feedstock slate and enables us to secure circular feedstocks; it also helps us meet strong and growing customer demand for circular polymers.
“Importantly, this capacity will help Dow scale these technologies globally as we continue to drive our long-term strategy to decrease the use of virgin fossil-based feedstocks.”
The HydroPRS process is a highly scalable form of advanced recycling which uses supercritical water to convert waste plastics, including difficult-to-recycle flexible and multi-layered materials, into high yields of stable hydrocarbon products.
These products can then be used in the manufacture of new plastics and other materials, thus recovering plastics that cannot be recycled by mechanical means for use in circular economies.
Liked this article? Subscribe to our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s packaging and printing industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE.
