US-headed KBR, Inc. a leading international provider of science, technology, and engineering solutions has announced it has entered into an agreement to invest an additional US$100 million in UK-headed Mura Technology Ltd (Mura) bringing KBR's aggregate investment in Mura to 18.5 percent.
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Mura Technology holds the exclusive license to Australia-headed chemical recycling technology developer Licella Holdings Pty Ltd (Licella) Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor (Cat-HTR) technology platform for post-consumer plastic outside of Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).
Licella retains the rights to its Cat-HTR platform in ANZ, under its new venture Advanced Recycling Australia, and is the largest shareholder in Mura.
Accelerate plastic recycling projects
According to KBR, this investment provides Mura incremental capital to accelerate the development of its plastics recycling projects and enables KBR to participate more fully in this sustainability-focused, high-growth sector.
Building on our strong partnership of collaboration and innovation, we are very excited to announce our expanded investment in Mura, said Stuart Bradie, President and CEO of KBR.
Funding is expected in two tranches with the first payment in the quarter ended June 30, 2022, and the remainder in 2023.
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 Hydrothermal Plastic Recycling Technology (Hydro-PRT) to markets around the world, accelerating and de-risking the delivery of future projects.
With a strategic approach to commercializing and scaling its proprietary, differentiated plastics recycling solution, Mura is very well positioned for profitable growth and value creation as the plastics circular economy develops and matures, Stuart Bradie said.
Based on Licella’s Cat-HTR platform
Licella’s Cat-HTR platform was developed specifically for a carbon-constrained world and uses supercritical water to convert waste plastics, otherwise destined for landfill, into the highest yield of oil of any plastic to oil technology.
In doing so, it unlocks an economically and environmentally sustainable circular economy for all plastic.
The investment supports the global deployment of Licella’s commercial-ready Cat-HTR advanced recycling solution for post-consumer plastic waste, which is at the core of the Mura Hydro PRS process, commented Dr Len Humphreys, CEO of Licella Holdings.
Hydro-PRT is capable of recycling end-of-life plastic; converting mixed plastic streams into fossil-replacement oils and chemicals, thereby 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 ground-breaking supercritical water technology within the process makes it inherently scalable.
The combination of Mura’s game-changing Hydro-PRT technology with KBR’s scalable engineering and licensing expertise has now established a world-leading alliance in the advanced recycling of plastics. This additional investment by KBR in Mura Technology and the addition of a member of KBR’s management to Mura’s Board of Directors demonstrates a strong commitment to this partnership by both parties, said Dr Steve Mahon, CEO of Mura Technology.
Global demand for the technology
Demand continues to grow for this technology, and Mura has since announced a licensing agreement with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation in June 2021, as well as strategic partnerships with Dow and Chevron Phillips Chemical Corporation.
According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), an estimated 300 million tonnes of plastic waste is generated, half of which is single-use plastics (SUP).
Furthermore, the extraction of fossil fuels and their transportation to plastic manufacturing sites emits 12.5 to 13.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) every year according to the 2019 “Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet” report released by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), a nonprofit environmental law organization.
Plastic pollution is a global crisis that requires millions of tonnes of advanced recycling in order to begin to address this problem. At Mura, our goal is to design and deliver projects which provide robust risk-return profiles, which ensure investor confidence, and collaborations with partners such as KBR will allow us to achieve this as quickly and effectively as possible, Dr Steve Mahon said.
First facilities nearing completion
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 United States and Germany which will commence construction in the coming months.
The investment proceeds will be used to support our first commercial-scale plant in Teesside later this year as well as fund the development of several plants in the US and Europe, said Dr Steve Mahon.
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.
