Dow and Mura Technology announced the next step in their ongoing collaboration to help solve the global plastics waste issue and advance circularity. Mura plans to construct a new facility at Dow's Böhlen site in Germany -- the latest in a series of planned facilities across the U.S. and Europe to rapidly scale advanced recycling of plastics -- and the first expected to be based at a Dow site. This project is targeted for a final investment decision by the end of 2023.

Mura's new Böhlen facility in Germany, which is expected to be operational by 2025, would deliver approximately 120 kilotons per annum (KTA) of advanced recycling capacity at full run-rate. This and the other planned units expected to be constructed across Europe and the U.S. would collectively add as much as 600KTA of advanced recycling capacity by 2030 -- and position Dow to become the largest consumer of circular feedstock for polyethylene production globally. The planned facility builds on Dow's ongoing collaboration with Mura, first announced in 2021, with an initial project to construct the world's first plant using Mura's HydroPRS(TM) process, located in Teesside, UK, which is expected be operational in 2023 with an initial 20KTA production line.

The Böhlen, Germany, site, expected to be co-located with Dow's manufacturing facilities, would enable a significantly larger capacity for plastic waste and considerably increase the supply of fully circular feedstock to the industry. This circular feed, derived from plastic waste currently destined for incineration or landfill, would reduce reliance on virgin fossil-based feedstocks and would enable Dow to produce a recycled plastic which is in high demand from global brands, particularly for high-end sensitive markets like food and medical applications. Dow aims to take advantage of co-location benefits, which could significantly reduce the cost of scaling advance recycling facilities.

In addition, co-location of Mura's facilities at Dow locations would be expected to reduce carbon emissions by minimizing transportation of the offtake and as gas output from the advanced recycling process can be converted back to plastics, thereby ensuring no by-products go to waste.