Process technology supplier Mura Technology (London; www.muratechnology.com) said it has begun commissioning what it claims is the world’s first commercial-scale advanced plastics recycling plant.

Located on the Wilton International industrial site in Teeside, Mura said the plant can produce 20,000 t/y of recycled liquid hydrocarbon products and has the potential to treble this amount in the future. It added that the site is expected to deliver the first recycled hydrocarbon products to company partners in early 2024.

Related: Mura, Dow to build Europe’s biggest chemical recycling plant 

The site will provide up to 50 direct jobs, having created approximately 150 during for the construction and commissioning phases. Mura said approximately 100 further jobs would be created via related infrastructure and support operations.

To convert plastics waste into chemicals and oil, Mura uses HydroPRS, a chemical recycling process based on catalytic hydrothermal reactor technology (Cat-HTR) developed by Australia’s Licella Holdings (Sydney; www.licella.com.au). 

The company said independent life cycle assessments based on the work being done at the Teeside site showed the process provided an 80% saving on carbon emissions by diverting so-called unrecyclable plastics away from incineration. Mura also claimed that compared to fossil oil-based feedstock, its process saved up to five barrels of oil for every tonne of plastics waste processed.