Mura Technology partners with BluHope for World Ocean Day

Mura Technology, a UK-based chemical recycling company targeting end-of-life and ‘unrecyclable’ plastic world-wide have joined with The British High Commission in Malaysia to launch the BluHope campaign in celebration of World Oceans Day on the 8^th June 2020.

This new campaign is aimed at raising awareness of the importance of protecting the world’s oceans and biodiversity from plastic pollution and highlighting the innovative new technology available to tackle it.

The campaign is also partnered by the Malaysian Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Environment and Water, WRAP, Plastic Oceans UK, TimorBlue, Asia Dive Expo, ZuBlu and YTL. 

World Oceans Day marks the beginning of a week-long programme (8^th June – 12^th June) of online resources and activities on the BluHope.org website, including a comprehensive schedule of webinars from experts from within oceanic academia, environmental protection, plastic recycling  and underwater filming and diving.

Each day of the programme is themed, with Wednesday 10^th June focussing on Innovation for a Circular Plastics Economy.

Managing Director of ReNew ELP Richard Daley will deliver the webinar ‘Chemical Recycling of Plastics: Turning Waste into a Valuable Resource and Helping to Prevent Ocean Pollution’ on Wednesday 10^th June at 11am GMT.

The company says this discussion will highlight the important role Mura’s Cat-HTR (Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor) chemical recycling technology can play in recycling plastic materials currently considered ‘unrecyclable’ via traditional mechanical recycling, and so are sent to incineration and landfill, often resulting in leakage into the environment.

The Cat-HTR technology uses supercritical water, heat and pressure to recycle multi-layer and flexible plastic materials back into valuable chemicals and oils for use in the manufacture of new plastic materials.

This provides both a recycled feedstock and an alternative process to process waste plastics that would not normally be recycled, whilst helping to enter plastic into a circular economy.

Teesside, North East England, is the first site in development with additional global sites in the pipeline. 

Mura believes the technology demonstrates a complementary solution to sit alongside traditional mechanical recycling to create a circular economy. This innovative process goes hand in hand with efforts to reduce single-use plastic and helps to both reduce plastic pollution of the oceans and create a plastic-neutral society.

Mura’s CEO Dr Steve Mahon says: “A circular economy for plastics is essential to transition to a world where we manage and use our natural resources responsibly, efficiently and with due care for the natural world. We are delighted to support the BluHope initiative and for our Company to be a leader in this movement towards a plastic neutral future.”

The schedule also features a series of online panels with International speakers, discussing topics including oceanic biodiversity and protection, and sustainable tourism.

Mura Technology’s partner Plastic Oceans UK are showing their stand-out film ‘A Plastic Ocean’ on each day of the programme.

BluHope is the third phase of the British High Commission’s ongoing Green is GREAT Plastic campaign, of which Mura are feature brand.