Dow and Mura Technology Announce Partnership to Scale Game-changing New Advanced Recycling Solution for Plastics

April 23, 2021

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(Dow and Mura Technology/CSR Wire) -Technology can recycle all forms of plastic – including multi-layer, flexible plastics often used in food packaging. -Dow to play pivotal role in Mura’s global rollout of 1MM metric tonnes of recycling capacity by 2025. -Dow to receive supply of recycled feedstocks made from plastics waste from Mura’s first-of-its-kind plant in Teesside, UK, supplying major brands across the globe with sustainable plastic products. -Future Mura sites planned in US, Germany, and Asia as Mura’s global rollout accelerates.

Today (April 22, 2021) Dow (NYSE: DOW) a global leader in materials science, and Mura Technology, the global pioneer of an advanced plastic recycling solution, announced a partnership to help keep plastic waste out of the environment.

The collaboration will support the rapid scaling of Mura’s new HydroPRS™ (Hydrothermal Plastic Recycling Solution) advanced recycling process aimed at preventing plastic and carbon from entering the natural environment while creating the feedstocks for a sustainable, circular plastics economy. The deal marks an important step in Dow’s commitment to advance a circular economy for plastics and keep plastic waste from entering the environment.

The partnership combines Dow’s materials science capabilities, global scale and financial resources with Mura’s leading technology, to produce the circular feedstocks which are then converted into the recycled plastics that consumers and global brands are increasingly seeking.

Mura’s proprietary solution, HydroPRS™, is a revolutionary 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.

Importantly, 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 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.

Dow will play an important role as a global manufacturer of plastic, proving that Mura’s solution can meet both the sustainability and performance needs of the industry and that the products made via HydroPRS™ can be employed at scale to make new plastics. 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 will be able to recycle up to 80,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year, providing Dow with materials produced by the process. Dow will 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.

“We’re changing the way the world thinks about plastics – not as something to throw away, but as a product that can be used over and over again, and sustainably, without damaging our natural environment. Our partnership with Dow will help make this a reality for global brands and deliver a circular plastics economy globally within the next decade.”

This ‘lost resource’ of plastic waste is a huge economic opportunity – valued at up to $120 billion per year according to the World Economic Forumii. Global plastic production also creates an estimated 390 million tonnes of CO2 every yeariii – equivalent to over 172 million carsiv. While plastic production accounts for approximately 6 percent of global oil consumption today, by deploying technology capable of recycling all plastics and creating the ingredients for a circular plastics economy, advanced recycling can decrease the use of oil by the chemical industry. Mura offers the prospect of dramatically cutting global plastic waste and associated emissions attributed to that waste.

To reduce global plastic waste, Mura has designed its business model for rapid global deployment and is building a global network of partners. Dow joins other major global players such as KBR Inc., a US-based multinational engineering services company, Wood, a global consulting and engineering company, and Igus GmbH, a global leader in industrial plastics, as partners to accelerate the deployment of Mura’s technology worldwide. Mura’s HydroPRS™ process utilises at its core the Cat-HTR™ technology, which was developed and is owned by Licella Holdings Limited, New South Wales, Australia.

Alongside its first plant in the UK, Mura has identified development opportunities in Germany and the United States – where it will develop new recycling plants in both countries in the next five years – and Asian markets, as part of a rapid global rollout that will see one million tonnes of recycling capacity in development worldwide by 2025. The partnership with Dow will be a key driver of this goal. Mura is continuing to raise funds to drive further expansion and is in discussions with a range of global investors.

The partnership announced today is another example of how Dow is working with partners to build momentum around breakthrough advanced recycling technologies and to drive game-changing innovations that keep plastic waste from entering the environment. In 2019, Dow announced a partnership with Fuenix to supply feedstock made from recycled plastic waste. The partnership with Mura represents another step in Dow’s efforts to meet its recently announced sustainability targets to address both climate change and plastic waste.

See explanatory video on the HydroPRS™ Process here.
See here for video on Dow’s drive for a circular economy for plastics.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation and leading business positions to achieve profitable growth. The Company’s ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company, with a purpose to deliver a sustainable future for the world through our materials science expertise and collaboration with our partners. Dow’s portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings, polyurethanes and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer care. Dow operates 106 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 35,700 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $39 billion in 2020. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.dow.com or follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.

About Mura Technology

Mura Technology’s mission is to eliminate global plastic pollution and create sustainable societies.

We are pioneering a globally scalable technology to prevent millions of tonnes of plastic and carbon from entering our natural environment every year and turning an $80 billion lost resource of plastic waste into a valuable global commodity. Our technology can recycle all plastic waste, and produces the ingredients for brand new products, reducing the need for new and fossil-fuel derived plastics.

We are partnering with the biggest global brands to scale worldwide and feed a sustainable plastics economy in the next decade. Our plan is to have capacity for 1,000,000 tonnes of plastic recycling in operation or development by 2025.

The company is based in London, UK. Visit http://www.muratechnology.com/

References and links

i dependent analysis by CE Delft, the independent research and consultancy organisation specialised in developing innovative solutions to environmental problems.
ii WEF – The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics
iii The Ellen McArthur Foundation – the New Plastics Economy: Catalysing Action
ivps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-car-carbon-dioxide-emissions