KBR is sinking US$100 million in Mura Technology

KBR is making a US$100 million investment in UK-based chemical recycling company Mura Technology, creating a platform for the recycler to further expand its technology across multiple projects envisioned around the world.

The investment proceeds will be used to support Mura’s first commercial-scale plant in Teesside later this year as well as fund the development of several plants in the US and Europe, said Steve Mahon, CEO of Mura Technology.

Alongside the investment, a representative from KBR management will join Mura’s board of directors to help shape the future strategy of the business.

The additional investment follows a successful 18-month partnership between Mura and KBR, to establish license agreements and commercialise Mura's Hydro-PRT  - Hydrothermal Plastic Recycling - Technology.

KBR became Mura’s exclusive global licensing partner in January 2021. The alliance aims to bring Mura’s technology to markets around the world, accelerating and de-risking the delivery of future projects. It is a strategic approach to commercialising and scaling the technology that positions Mura for ‘profitable growth and value creation as the plastics circular economy develops and matures’, said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO.

That strategy has seen Mura enter into alliances with investors and licensees across the globe, which have included both a licencing agreement with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation in June 2021, as well as strategic partnerships with Dow and Chevron Phillips Chemical Corporation.

Demand continues to grow for this technology and together, Mura and its licensees have plans to build facilities around the world.

The first is due to open in Teesside, United Kingdom, at the end of 2022, followed by sites in the USA and Germany which will commence construction in the coming months. Further sites are planned for Europe and Asia, including a project in South Korea with LG Chem which will initially support the recycling of 25,000 tonnes of plastic waste.

Each year, an estimated 300 million tonnes of plastic waste is generated, half of which is single-use plastics. Furthermore, the extraction of fossil fuels and their transportation to plastic manufacturing sites emits 12.5 to 13.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases every year.

“Plastic pollution is a global crisis which requires millions of tonnes of advanced recycling in order to begin to address this problem,” said Mahon.

Mura's proprietary Hydro-PRT technology targets feedstock long considered unrecyclable: flexible, multi-layered materials such as flexible films and multi-material rigids.  It converts mixed plastic streams into fossil-replacement oils and chemicals, with no anticipated limit to the number of times the same material can be recycled. Unlike the pyrolysis methods often used, the technology is based on the use of supercritical water as the medium to help break down the carbon-carbon bonds in the plastic waste. As a result, the process does not typically produce char or unwanted by-products and is inherently scalable.