Mura Technology wins grant to develop sustainability models for Hydro-PRT

Iranpolymer/Baspar  UK-based chemical recycler Mura Technology and the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick are collaborating to boost commercial opportunities for Mura’s Hydro Plastics Recycling Technology (PRT).

The partners secured a grant of an undisclosed amount for a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) from Innovate UK, the innovation agency of the UK government. The British government awards KTPs to encourage collaboration between businesses and universities in the country.

For the next two years, WMG will develop operational sustainability models for Mura’s plastics chemical recycling technology. The models will operationalise sustainability at all future Mura project sites, including Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), to transparently show how Hydro-PRT meets environmental requirements. The platform will be used to educate and inform stakeholders including global regulators, policy makers and the plastics value chain on the low carbon potential of Hydro-PRT.

Last year, WMG published a peer reviewed LCA of Mura’s technology which found that, tonne for tonne, hydrothermal treatment of plastic waste yields an approximate reduction in carbon impact of 80% compared to incineration.

Mura expects the operational sustainability models to improve the commercialisation of its technology through licensing agreements. Its first commercial plant is scheduled to come only by the end of 2024 in Teesside, UK, and two other plants are being built under licence with partners in South Korea and Japan.

“Continuing the collaboration with WMG is critically important to bring this new science into our core business operation,” said  Mura’s head of sustainability and R&D, Dr Geoff Brighty. “Hydro-PRT has sector leading sustainability credentials, but every prospective site will be unique, influenced by the local energy grid, plant configurations as well as its material supply chain. The KTP project models will inform options appraisals and decision making, ensuring sustainability is at the heart of our global growth programme.”

Unlike pyrolysis, HydroPRT uses water under high pressure and high temperature to convert post-consumer, multi layered, flexible and rigid plastics such as films, pots, tubs and trays into hydrocarbon feedstocks.

WMG’s LCA of the technology also found that the main contributor to global warming in the hydrothermal treatment process is electricity consumption. Renewables-rich electricity grids have the potential to reduce the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the technology, as do plant configuration that recycle process gas.

The sustainability models will allow stakeholders to identify such opportunities for further improvements to the environmental performance of the Hydro-PRT process.

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