Mura Technology are developing a global portfolio of sites using hydrothermal upgrading, an advanced recycling process for a plastic-neutral and sustainable future.

Using supercritical water, we’re able to convert waste plastic back into the chemicals and oils from which they were made.

Mura’s portfolio includes sites within the UK (see ReNew ELP), USA, Germany and Asia.

Mura was formed to commercialize an advanced recycling process, HydroPRS^TM, which provides an end-to-end solution to convert mixed waste plastic back to chemical feedstocks for the manufacture of new plastics. This includes all aspects of waste processing, preparation and process optimization to maximise product yield and quality.

HydroPRS^TM provides a recycling path for plastics arising in both post-consumer packaging and commercial and industrial waste. Most waste streams, such as MSW, RDF and SRF, contain a high plastic content which is incinerated rather than recycled. Our solution concentrates these plastics to a waste stream which is over 70% plastics on a dry ash-free (DAF) basis.* We seek to maximise this waste plastic content to optimize the yields of valuable recycled products to service the refinery and cracker feedstock markets.

At the core of the process is the catalytic hydrothermal reaction (Cat-HTR™) platform which was developed and is owned by Licella Holdings Ltd (“Licella”) who have invested over US$80M and produced three progressive scale ups over a thirteen-year period. Licella own 12 of the 13 Cat-HTR™ patent families covering a range of feedstocks and have operated commercial-scale reactors based in Australia for over 5 years.

In 2017 Licella formed Cat-HTR plastics, (“CHP”), as a wholly owned subsidiary and gave it the global rights to utilize the Cat-HTR™ platform for a defined plastic feedstock excluding Australia and New Zealand.

Armstrong Capital Management is a UK based asset manager specializing in impact investments who from 2017 funded, via Armstrong Chemicals Limited (“ACL”) and affiliates, an earn-in to an unincorporated JV between ACL and CHP, with such agreement subsequently terminated in February 2019.

In March of 2019 CHP and Armstrong, used ACL to form what was initially a joint venture company, changing the name from ACL to Mura Technology Limited (“Mura”).  As part of this transaction CHP issued Mura a fully paid, royalty free, in perpetuity license to use its relevant patents, existing and future, for the defined plastic feedstock and forms the core element of Mura’s HydroPRS^TM solution. These are exclusive global licenses for this feedstock, which exclude Australia and New Zealand. Also, upon forming the joint venture, Mura purchased from Licella a new patent application specific to the plastics feedstock and Mura has subsequently filed an additional patent application for the feedstock.  Mura has funded an R&D programme with Licella for the further development of the Mura’s HydroPRS^TM process utilizing Licella’s Cat-HTR^TM for the recycling of waste plastics.

Mura and Licella continue to work cooperatively to share data and to make new IP available to each other under the existing licensing agreements, which allow each party to fully development markets in their respective feedstocks and territories.

* The Mura exclusive license from Cat-HTR Plastics Pty Ltd covers the use of the Cat-HTR^TM platform for all plastic feedstock, which means a natural or synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers including (but not limited to) polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene. Plastics are typically organic polymers of high molecular mass. For the avoidance of doubt, the parties intend this definition of Plastics shall include rubber and tyres, both natural and synthetic. Our HydroPRS^TM process can take all plastic waste streams and MSW, RDF and SRF and we concentrate the plastic content prior to conversion back to liquid hydrocarbons.  We can accept contaminants like paper, food, metals and water, but we minimise non-plastics, where possible, to achieve the highest product quality and yields.