New independent research confirms HydroPRSTM enables sustainable, low carbon circular plastic economy
A new peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessment[1] (LCA) published by Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick shows that Mura Technology’s HydroPRSTM[2]
Pioneered by Mura Technology, HydroPRS™ utilises supercritical water to convert post-consumer flexible, multi layered and rigid plastics into high yields of stable, premium petrochemical feedstocks.
Dr Steve Mahon, Mura Technology’s CEO, said: “The WMG team have found HydroPRSTM to be 80% less carbon intensive than incineration. This study adds to the growing body of evidence that HydroPRSTM is uniquely placed to help achieve a low-carbon and global circular plastics economy by replacing incineration and substituting fossil-based naphtha feedstocks. Our goal is to use our scalable technology to substitute fossil-based naphtha and other hydrocarbons for more sustainable feedstocks.”
showed that HydroPRS™ hydrocarbon products have equivalent to lower GWP when compared with naphtha, the fossil oil-based feedstock used in the production of plastics. The LCA methodology, which is being applied to future HydroPRS™ plants, also assessed the benefits of reducing GWP further by taking advantage of renewable energy supplies and recycling process gas.
Dr Geoff Brighty, Mura’s Chief Sustainability Officer said: ’The results are consistent with the EU Commission Joint Research Centre’s recent LCA study[3] on waste plastic recycling and importantly demonstrate a clear deliverable pathway to Net Zero[4] for the HydroPRS™ process and its products for our value chain.”
The paper also highlights the importance of generating clear and scientifically robust data and analysis of advanced recycling, which aligns to the ‘transparency’ expectations in the WWF Chemical Recycling Implementation Principles[5] which Mura strongly supports.
The LCA, funded through Innovate UK’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging challenge[6] is based on data from Mura’s first commercial scale HydroPRS™ plant at Wilton, Teesside, UK.
[1] Ozoemena, M and Coles S, (2023) Hydrothermal treatment of waste plastics: an environmental impact study. Journal of Polymers and the Environment., https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-023-02792-3
[2] Global warming potential (GWP) is the heat absorbed by any greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, as a multiple of the heat that would be absorbed by the same mass of carbon dioxide. GWP is 1 for CO₂.
[3] Environmental and economic assessment of plastic waste recycling. A comparison of mechanical, physical, chemical and energy recovery of plastic waste. Joint Research Centre. ISSN 1831-9424. https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC132067/JRC132067_01.pdf
[4] Net Zero refers to 100% negating the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity through a combination of reducing GHG emissions and absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
[5] WWF 10 Principles for Chemical Recycling: https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/54fnztys8g_Chemical_Recycling_Implementation_Principles_2022_.pdf?_ga=2.167548347.465108834.1670360813-1662930765.1670360813
[6] Project 49801,