Mura Technology, a plastics recycling technology pioneer, has announced a new equity investment from science, technology and engineering firm KBR.
The $100m investment will provide the platform for Mura to develop multiple new projects around the world to remove over 1 million tonnes of plastic from global waste streams. Alongside the investment, a representative from KBR management will join Mura’s board of directors to help shape the future strategy of the business.
Mura has been in alliance with KBR, its exclusive global licensing partner, since January 2021. Together they have combined technological expertise and global reach to bring Mura’s innovative recycling technology Hydro-PRT℠ (hydrothermal plastic recycling technology) to markets around the world, accelerating and de-risking the delivery of future projects.
Demand continues to grow for this technology, and Mura has since announced a licencing agreement with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation in June 2021, as well as strategic partnerships with Dow and Chevron Phillips Chemical Corporation. 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 U.S. 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.
Hydro-PRT℠ is capable of recycling end-of-life plastic; converting mixed plastic streams into fossil-replacement oils and chemicals, enabling plastic waste to be upgraded into new plastics and other products. There is no anticipated limit to the number of times the same material can be recycled, and the use of Mura’s supercritical water technology within the process makes it inherently scalable.