Green news: Mura to set up recycling plant in Singapore; ECI tech selected by Vioneo for methanol-based LDPE facility in Belgium

Recycling firm Mura Technology announced plans to develop a 50 kilotonnes/year facility in Singapore. This will existing facilities operated under license from Mura by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation in Japan and currently being commissioned by LG Chem in South Korea, which when combined with Mura’s own UK facility in Wilton, Teesside, UK, will total 60 kilotonnes/year of liquid circular hydrocarbon output capacity by the end of 2025.

The new facility will be located on Jurong Island within the Singapore Essential Chemicals Complex (SECC) , where Mura has recently secured rights to a site from PCS Pte. Ltd. Mura has also opened a Singapore office to support this strategic expansion.

Southeast Asia’s predicted generation of 56 million tonnes of mismanaged plastic waste annually by 2050 creates both an urgent environmental challenge and a significant resource opportunity. As the region’s premier hub for trade, innovation, and circular economy leadership, Singapore provides the ideal platform for Mura’s new facility to recycle both local and regional plastic waste into premium, circular feedstocks.

In 2019, the Singapore Government announced the Zero Waste Masterplan which aims to create a Zero Waste Nation by minimising waste and increasing the overall recycling rate to 70%, which includes plastics, by 2030. Mura is poised to play a key role in supporting Singapore’s plastic recycling ambitions, with the new facility targeted to process more than 60,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year, increasing with expansion plans. Through collaboration with local companies and Singapore’s National Environment Agency, Mura expects to secure a high proportion of plastic waste from Singapore as feedstock for its facility. This will be supplemented with imports of processed and verified Recovered Plastic Feedstock from regional sources supporting Southeast Asia’s ambitions for plastics circularity. Mura’s Singapore facility will provide a viable outlet to recycle low value plastic waste which is a major contributor to post-use plastic pollution in the region.

The site’s location within PCS’s SECC offers significant integrational advantages, including direct pipeline connections to potential customers, proximity to necessary utilities, and access to skilled personnel.

The Singapore facility, which will have scope to increase in size to 100 kilotonnes, will utilise Mura’s pioneering Hydro-PRT technology, to convert plastic waste into valuable circular hydrocarbon products that can be used to create virgin-quality recycled plastic materials.

This expansion builds on Mura’s growing global presence, with the company’s first commercial-scale site in Teesside, UK, which is expected to commence operations by Q4, 2025.

Pioneered by Mura Technology, the Hydro-PRT process is the next generation of advanced plastic recycling due to its use of supercritical water (water under elevated pressure and temperature, above its critical point), which distinguishes it from alternative advanced recycling processes such as pyrolysis, ensuring the efficient and scalable conversion of plastic waste to circular hydrocarbons. Hydro-PRT can process contaminated and mixed plastics, such as flexible and rigid food packaging, producing high yields of circular hydrocarbon products for use in the manufacture of virgin-quality, recycled plastics.

In other news, Vioneo, a European pioneer in fossil-free plastics, has awarded the contract for its fossil-free feedstock LDPE plant to technology licensing and engineering services firm ECI Group.

The facility, to be built in Antwerp, Belgium, represents a pivotal step in the transition to sustainable plastics. It will use ECI Group’s proprietary autoclave technology to produce 110,000 tonnes/year of LDPE from certified green methanol. The venture is backed by A.P. Moller, with ECI Group’s product partner, Repsol, providing essential market knowledge and product expertise.

Vioneo, backed by A.P. Moller Holding, is dedicated to pioneering fossil-free plastics production. The plant will form part of the Vioneo’s planned production complex in Antwerp, Belgium which aims to address fundamental environmental challenges associated with conventional plastics manufacturing and will position Europe at the forefront of the transition to a sustainable ‘fossil-free’ plastics industry.

“Vioneo is driving the transition of the plastics industry by demonstrating the economic viability of large-scale, cleaner production using green methanol instead of fossil fuels. This initiative offers Europe the opportunity to lead the EUR5 trillion chemicals and materials sector’s defossilisation. Our partnership with ECI Group is a crucial step in realising this vision,” said Alex Hogan, CEO, Vioneo.

The LDPE plant will use a green methanol feedstock derived from biogenic CO2, ensuring a fully fossil-free, traceable, and ISCC PLUS-certified product. Powered by renewable electricity, the facility will significantly reduce lifecycle emissions while delivering high-performance LDPE suitable for critical applications in healthcare, automotive, packaging, and consumer goods.

ECI Group’s proprietary technology offers a wide range of high-pressure polyethylene products. In the four years since 2021, ECI Group has licensed over 1 million tonnes of annual capacity, all using ECI Group’s standardised design approach.

Repsol, the multi-energy company, will support ECI Group as product partner, bringing its extensive technical, operational, and commercial expertise. Repsol has over 55 years of experience producing LDPE, EVA, and EBA polymers at its industrial complexes in Spain and Portugal.

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