Recycling

Thai tech pioneer presents breakthrough in recycling

A technology pioneer in Thailand who found his own scientific research firm has discovered a way to convert waste into wealth—by converting laminated paper to reusable plastic. He demonstrates his invention by dropping a small laminated piece of paper into a jar that contains some cloudy liquid. In a few minutes, he holds up the paper under flowing tap water to help wash down paper pulp, revealing a clear piece of plastic film. With his invention, he hopes to grow his young business into a multimillion dollar entity.

Sangchai’s company, Flexoresearch, is in the late stages of developing a series of blended enzymes that strips paper pulps or fibers from laminated material such as milk cartons, stickers and cigarette packets, separating it from plastic and thus making it possible to recycle similar waste materials. An enzyme in the mixture first breaks down the coat of water resistant chemical on the surface, and then the other enzymes step in to strip down all the paper fibers, pulps and adhesive layers, isolating the plastic material. The pulp that the enzymes retrieve can thus be recycled to save trees, or to serve as an asbestos alternative to help combat lunch cancer caused by asbestos fibers.

His firm’s research is currently the first of its kind in the entire globe. Apart from being able to recover paper pulp, plastics can be recovered safely as well without adverse side effects to health, thus hitting two birds with one stone by being able to recover two materials from a single waste product. Thus, Sangchai’s firm was named by the World Economic Forum as one of 31 “Technology Pioneers”, which says that Flexoresearch technology will be able to reduce asbestos use globally and thus have a direct positive impact on health.