Can New Technologies Solve the Plastic Crisis?

A Discussion With the World’s First Commercial Scale Hydrothermal Recycling Plant.

By Penny Maloney

Over recent years it has become clear that recycling isn’t enough to solve our waste crisis. It’s not that most plastics can’t be recycled, the technology exists, but most of the time it is not economically and environmentally efficient to do so. In these cases, the plastics are often sent to incinerators, landfill and exported to other nations. It is important to note that plastics cannot be infinitely recycled, which forms a dead-end in its life cycle. These discrepancies mean we are desperate for new alternatives to the industry’s current landscape.

Renew ELP: Unlocking the Value in Plastic Waste

Construction of a commercial scale plastic recycling plant will soon commence in the UK and will be the first of its kind to introduce a ground-breaking technology to the world. Advanced recycling company Renew ELP will utilize a cutting-edge process obtained from parent company Mura Technology that allows plastic waste to be chemically recycled into valuable chemicals and oils.

Renew ELP has a clear goal - to bring a circular economy to the plastic industry. Although this is the aim of most recycling companies, their edge relies on the novel Cat-HTR (catalytic hydrothermal reactor) technology they acquired from Mura Technology, that recycles mixed waste and plastics that have previously been considered non-recyclable.

This technology is expected to be revolutionary in the recycling industry. Cat-HTRTM uses water in its super critical state which breaks down the plastics structure to form new and stable hydrocarbons. Not only is contaminated and mixed waste prevented from inevitably ending up in landfill, but also the organic contaminants are re-used to fuel the process, meaning no waste is left behind.

Mura technology, who own this novel recycling technology, aim to obtain a global portfolio of sites, but their very first plant will lie close to home. Teesside provides a promising location for this plant, offering established port and transport links, skilled local workforce and great potential for site rejuvenation. This new technology will create an exciting hub of new industry in the North East and provides an excellent opportunity for the area to stand at the forefront of this innovation. The Teesside plant is the first to utilise this technology where it will act as a demonstrator plant to set the scene for future prospects.

The first of four 20,000 tonne lines is under construction and since the initial line will work as a demonstrator, the focus feedstock will be polypropylene and polystyrene from post-consumer plastic packaging sources, which will be announced in the coming weeks.

Can Mura Technology Create a Plastic Neutral World?

A common debate in sustainability argues that recycling is not enough of a solution to the plastic problem, mainly due to the many limitations in the current industry. However, with Mura technology overcoming these limitations, can recycling alone rid the planet of its overwhelming plastic pollution?

In order to discover more about Renew ELP’s plans and their environmental impacts, I spoke to their communications and marketing manager Kim West.

When asked about the necessity of reducing plastic waste, Renew ELP absolutely see the importance in reducing single-use plastic at the source and believe that “advanced recycling should sit alongside mechanical recycling processes to form a complementary recycling process”. The government has expressed the strategic ambition to “…work towards all plastic packaging placed on the market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.” There is no doubt that this plant and any future plants will drive the recycling industry in the right direction, setting the UK on track to accomplish these goals.

There have been some exciting discussions between Renew ELP and several ocean plastic charities. Although ocean plastics has not been fully explored with Mura technology, there is no reason that it wouldn’t be an option. When discussing the idea of collecting and recycling plastic already polluting the oceans, Kim stated it was definitely “one for the future, once the first line is up and running!”.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) is fast approaching, and since it is being hosted by the UK, we are in a perfect position to accelerate action towards the Paris agreement goals. If the goals of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C are expected to be met, it is vital for global carbon emissions to reach the net zero target by the mid-century. With this in mind, Kim West gave some interesting statistics on how Mura technology and their associated companies will aid these net zero goals. Using CE Delft’s report on advanced recycling solutions and considering Mura’s ambition of reaching 1,000,000 tonnes of plastic waste in operation by 2025, it was calculated that approximately 1,500,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be saved. Renew ELP was recently brought to the attention of the house of commons, where they were in favour of the use of Cat-HTRTM technology along-side mechanical recycling in hope to reduce single use plastic.

This ground-breaking technology essentially means nothing for the plastic neutral world unless the government implement regulatory measures that drive plastic waste towards advanced recycling and away from landfill, incineration and export. That being said, it’s clearly a step in the right direction!