To support the circular economy of plastics, Igus GmbH (the parent company of Northampton-based Igus UK) has invested £4 million in London-based Mura Technology Ltd, which aims to put the first commercial-scale Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor (Cat-HTR) into operation.
Mura has a vision for the future of plastic recycling around the globe; instead of sending material to landfill or polluting the environment through incineration, it has the technology to chemically recycle end-of-life plastics back into valuable chemical and oil products.
Mura CEO Stephen Mahonsaid: “We are delighted to partner with Igus, as its global network and investment will accelerate our ability to deploy Mura’s recycling capacity (
www.muratechnology.com).
Igus is our first strategic investor, and we applaud the leadership it has shown to support Mura — and with its own recycling initiatives.”
The Cat-HTR technology can convert plastic waste back into crude oil within 20min (using just water, heat and pressure); the oil can then be used to make new plastic products.
The first commercial Cat-HTR plant will be built in Wiltshire, and construction is due to start this year.
Eventually, four plants at the site in Wilton will be able to process more than 80,000 tons of plastic waste per year. The patented Cat-HTR was developed in 2007 and tested for over 10 years in a pilot plant in Australia.
Plastic recycling is an important topic at Igus, a leading manufacturer of energy chain systems and polymer plain bearings (
www.igus.com).
The introduction of its ‘chainge’ programme last year allows companies to send their end-of-life plastic cable management systems (or energy chains) to Igus for recycling — irrespective of the manufacturer.
A short video about Cat-HTR technology is available to watch on Machinery Market’s Web site (
www.machinery-market.co.uk/video-archive.aspx).