News

Commercial UK recycling of aseptic cartons, toothpaste tubes and pouches is to move a step closer when a little-known recycling technology company opens a showcase site later this year.

Enval, a technology company that has been built around technology developed at Cambridge University, is to open the plant to showcase its aluminium/flexible plastic laminate recycling technology in Luton later this year.

The technology separates aluminium from plastic laminates by heating in a low-oxygen environment so the plastic is vaporised and collected for reuse in oil- and petroleum-based products. The aluminium is then collected to return to the aluminium recycling stream.

A small-scale pilot plant for the technology has been running in Cambridge for the last year and the company is now moving its equipment to the larger facility in Luton in order to show it working on a bigger scale. The plant is expected to be running later in the year.

Enval chairman Martin Lamb said that while plastic/aluminium laminates were widely used for their positive attributes, "the absence of a viable recycling process for them is a major drawback and is creating an increasing landfill problem".

Flexible plastic and aluminium laminate packaging is among the trickiest to recycle because of the mix of materials and currently primarily ends up in landfill.

One key area for the technology would be recycling of aseptic cartons, which are currently collected in much of the UK but at relatively low levels.

Carton body the Alliance for Cartons and the Environment recently revealed a 33% recycling rate for both aseptic and standard cartons across Europe, compared to 70% for steel packaging and 65% for glass, although the UK's performance lags behind these pan-European figures.

Enval was formed out of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Cambridge University. Alongside developing its laminate recycling technology the company offers environmental consultancy.

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