Plans are for Dow to use materials from the circular feed produced by Mura to make new plastics. The feed is derived from plastic waste currently destined for landfill or incineration, the company said.
“By investing in new applications, Dow is working to meet the increased demand for recycled material from its customers and make a meaningful impact on the supply chain, helping to close the loop on plastic waste,” said Marc van den Biggelaar, advanced recycling director for Dow.
Mura’s Hydrothermal Plastic Recycling Solution (HydroPRS) recycling process breaks down plastics using water in the form of supercritical steam (water at elevated pressure and temperature). It can reportedly be used to recycle all forms of plastic, including flexible and multi-layer plastics, which have previously been deemed ‘unrecyclable’. Once scaled up, it could prevent millions of tons of plastic and carbon dioxide from entering the environment every year, according to Dow.
The world’s first plant using the HydroPRS process is located in Teesside, UK, and expected to be operational in 2023 with a 20 KT per year production line to supply Dow with a 100% recycled feedstock. The companies plan to roll out up to 600 KT of recycling capacity by 2030.
Dow says that it has also invested in a single hybrid recycling site in France, managed by recycling company Valoregen, to secure a source of post-consumer resins (PCR), and signed a Letter of Intent with Nexus Circular to create a circular ecosystem in Dallas, Texas, for previously non-recycled plastic.
