Thai tech pioneer converts waste into wealth
| FEATURE |
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BANGKOK — Paijit Sangchai drops a small piece of laminated paper into a jar of cloudy liquid which he hopes will transform his start-up into a multimillion-dollar company and help revolutionize recycling.
“Now this is the fun part,” he says a few minutes later, holding it under the tap to wash away soggy paper pulp and reveal a clear plastic film.
His Thai firm, Flexoresearch, has developed a series of blended enzymes that can recover pulp or fiber from laminated paper such as cigarette packets, stickers or milk cartons that were previously hard or impossible to recycle.
First one enzyme attacks the water resistant chemical coating the surface, then others take over and tackle the paper and adhesive layers.
The resulting pulp, he says, can be used to produce new paper products — thus saving trees — or turned into building materials that can be used as an alternative to asbestos, which is potentially hazardous to human health..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101205com3.html
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