Advanced Plastic Recycling

Dow has unveiled a series of partnerships in plastics recycling intended to carry it two-thirds of the way to its goal of collecting, reusing, or recycling one million metric tonnes of plastics waste per year by 2030.

The announcement arrived as Dow reported a second-quarter sales increase of 13 percent compared with the prior year, driven largely by rising prices.

Mura Technology Leads the Effort

The largest of the collaborations is with the British firm Mura Technology. The two companies aim to construct a series of plants, each with 120,000 tonnes of annual capacity, in the United States and Europe for a combined 600,000 tonnes of output by 2030.

Mura uses supercritical steam to chemically break down difficult-to-recycle plastics such as flexible polyethylene packaging into products like naphtha, which can be loaded into petrochemical plants for processing back into virgin plastics. Most other processes being promoted by recycling firms use pyrolysis to break down waste plastics.

Mura’s first commercial plant, with 20,000 tonnes of annual capacity, is scheduled to start up in Teesside, England, in 2023. Mura may build the new plants at Dow facilities, and Dow will buy the output to make post-consumer resins.

KBR’s Stake in Mura Technology

Mura’s technology, branded Hydro-PRT for Hydrothermal Plastic Recycling Technology, is licensed globally through engineering firm KBR, its exclusive licensing partner since January 2021. KBR has invested US$100 million in Mura, lifting its aggregate stake in the company to 18.5 percent.

The alliance pairs Mura’s supercritical-water recycling process with KBR’s engineering and licensing scale, accelerating delivery of projects around the world including a 25,000-tonne-per-year site in South Korea with LG Chem.

Nexus Circular and Valoregen Round Out the Push

Dow will also buy output from a 26,000-tonne pyrolysis plant that Nexus Circular is planning for Dallas. Nexus operates a plant in Georgia and recently signed a similar agreement with Braskem for a facility proposed for the Chicago area.

Finally, Dow is collaborating with the French firm Valoregen to build a hybrid recycling site centred on mechanical recycling, using chemical technology to break down hard-to-recycle plastics. The plant in Damazan, France, will carry 70,000 tonnes of recycling capacity when it starts up next year.

Post-Consumer Resin Carries a Premium

On an investor call, Dow CEO Jim Fitterling said he sees opportunity in offering customers plastics with post-consumer resin content, noting they earn “higher-value premiums in the marketplace today.” Most brand owners hold 30 percent recycled-content targets by 2030.

The outlook for chemically recycled plastics is not without friction. California recently passed a law mandating stringent recycling requirements for plastics packaging and foodware that excludes chemical processes such as pyrolysis from being counted as recycling.

Learn More:

• Plastic Pyrolysis
• Plastic-to-Energy (USA)
• Green Fuels (Germany)
• Recycled Polypropylene Speakers (Japan)
• What Is Pyrolysis
• Feasibility Studies
• Turn-Key EPC

Scale Advanced Recycling with Klean Industries

Dow and Mura are committing to 600,000 tonnes of chemical recycling capacity, and KBR’s US$100 million stake signals where the industry is heading: converting hard-to-recycle plastic waste back into feedstock at commercial scale.

Klean Industries delivers the same outcome through proven plastic pyrolysis, turning mixed and difficult-to-recycle polymers into pyrolysis oil, fuel and recovered feedstock without landfill or incineration.

Why Choose Klean Industries’ Plastic Pyrolysis?

✅ Commercial plastic pyrolysis systems for mixed and hard-to-recycle waste polymers.
✅ Recovery of high-value pyrolysis oil and recovered feedstock for new plastics.
✅ Feasibility studies that de-risk projects before capital is committed.
✅ Turn-key delivery from engineering through commissioning.

Ready to turn your plastic waste into feedstock?

Contact Klean Industries about advanced plastic recycling » GO.