UK-based advanced recycler Mura Technology and its global licensing partner KBR have announced that they have signed their first international licence for UK-based Mura Technology. The agreement with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), a core company of the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group, is a ‘milestone’, said Mura, in the company’s global rollout to achieve one million tonnes of capacity by 2025, adding that Asia represents a major market for the advanced recycling of plastics. It is the first agreement signed as part of Mura’s partnership with KBR, announced earlier this year, and comes less than two months after Mura announced a partnership with Dow Chemicals.
According to Doug Kelly, KBR President, Technology, the past few months, have seen tremendous interest in Mura’s HydroPRS (Hydrothermal Plastic Recycling Solution) process from many leading companies worldwide
MCC conducted a detailed study into the feasibility of the HydroPRS process, while Mura’s global licensing partner, KBR, provided engineering support on the project feasibility.
Although Japan currently recycles 84% of its plastic waste, the majority of this is combusted to create energy from waste and is not reprocessed back into the plastics supply chain. Mura’s advanced recycling process offers a deliverable solution for Japan to meet its 2030 goal of reducing disposable plastic waste by 25%.
With Mura’s process 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. In addition, advanced recycling processes are expected to save approximately 1.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of plastic recycled, compared to incineration of unrecycled plastics.
“We are at the tipping point of an environmental catastrophe with plastic pollution, let alone the carbon emission caused by extracting fossil fuels to make virgin plastics,” said Steve Mahon, CEO of Mura Technology. “We need solutions today, at scale, that can provide a real sustainable solution for global industry and the largest consumer brands. That’s why we’re taking a global-first approach – to scale fast and meet the challenge head on.”
For MCC, the agreement is ‘an extremely positive step’ towards achieving its sustainability goals, said Shigeru Handa, Chief Operating Officer, Basic Materials Domain, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation.
“The scalable nature of the process and its ability to recycle a much broader scope of plastic is fundamental to the future of plastic recycling and we are very pleased to be working with both Mura and KBR,” he said.
The deal forms a blueprint for other Asian countries to follow. Additional sites are also planned in the U.S. and Germany.