Decarbonisation Technology May 2025 Issue

Northeast England (see Figures 2 and 3 ). When operational, it will have an output capacity of 20 kta, with scope to treble production from the site, encouraged by the inherent scalability of the Hydro-PRT process. Petrochemical companies that will act as offtaker to Mura’s products from the Wilton facility include Dow Chemical and Neste, with a third offtaker to be announced in due course. Life cycle assessments As Mura grows, the company is guided by central sustainability principles, including the maximisation of global recycling capacity for plastics currently considered unrecyclable, the minimisation of environmental impacts across operations, and the application of scientific evidence to drive sustainability action. With this in mind, independent life cycle analyses (LCAs) of Mura’s advanced recycling process have been performed to help better evaluate the impacts, including the carbon footprint of the process, in support of Mura’s sustainability pathway to net zero. In 2023, an LCA published by the Joint Research Centre, the science and knowledge service of the European Commission, benchmarked Hydro-PRT as one of five waste treatment processes for a bale of mixed waste plastic packaging. The assessment compared three different thermal advanced plastic recycling technologies against both traditional mechanical recycling processes and waste-to-energy (the burning of waste to power an electric generator turbine) ( Garcia-Gutierrez, et al., 2023 ). The study found that all plastic recycling processes it analysed, whether mechanical or advanced, were preferable to waste-to-energy (incineration) from material recovery and carbon emissions perspectives ( Garcia-Gutierrez, et al., 2023 ). Although mechanical recycling came in with the lowest carbon intensity overall, it still had a high proportion of ‘non-recyclable’ flexible material, which would still need to be incinerated – the feedstock that Hydro-PRT has been designed to target. However, the report also concluded that Hydro-PRT had the highest net savings in terms of emissions of the three thermal advanced recycling processes assessed (Hydro-PRT and two unnamed pyrolysis technologies). The

Figure 2 The Mura Wilton advanced plastic recycling facility

PRT process takes place. The supercritical water acts as ‘molecular scissors’ to break down or crack the carbon bonds in the plastic, donating hydrogen to create shorter-chain hydrocarbons. Following conversion, pressure is released from the reactor, and this energy is then recovered during flash distillation. The mix is then separated via fractionation into distinct hydrocarbon products. Petrochemical companies can use these circular hydrocarbon feedstocks from Hydro-PRT as a replacement for fossil-based resources in the manufacture of virgin-grade plastics. The output products include: • Circular liquid hydrocarbons : These products from Mura’s Hydro-PRT process can be used to replace fossil naphtha in the manufacture of new plastic products, chemicals, waxes, and oils. • Heavy residual oil : This high-boiling hydrocarbon product can be used as an additive in the production of bitumen or asphalt for the construction of roads. • Light vapour product : This process gas can be either recycled as a feedstock or reused to bring the water used in the process to a supercritical state, reducing the need for additional energy in future reactions. Wilton facility Set to be operational in 2025, Mura Wilton is Mura’s first facility, sited at the Wilton International Industrial Park in Teesside,