Cambridge spin-out gets funding for waste management

Enval Ltd, a Cambridge University spin-out, has obtained backing from a syndicate of investors to scale up applications of its patented waste processing technology. The syndicate, led by CREATE Partners, has made an initial seed investment of £200,000 with a view to investing more over the next three years.

The money will allow Enval to recruit a management team, develop a pilot plant over the next six to nine months and secure initial contracts.

The technology extracts commercially usable aluminium, oil and gas from laminated packaging waste, such as drink cartons and toothpaste tubes, allowing the waste to be completely recycled.

Following results from Enval's prototype demonstration unit, one of the leading manufacturers of drink cartons, Tetra Pak, and several other companies and government agencies have expressed an interest and said they want to support development of the technology and to gain early access to its industrial applications.

As well as laminated packaging, Enval also plans in the future to develop solutions for many other types of wastes.

"We are delighted to support a very promising technology that if successful on a large scale will substantially increase recycling in the UK," said Richard Hands, Environment Manager for Tetra Pak UK & Ireland.

The EU uses more than 1 million tonnes of drink cartons per year. Of this, around 30 per cent is collected and taken to paper mills to be partially recycled. However, the aluminium the cartons contain is not reclaimed.

Enval was formed in 2005 around technology developed by Carlos Ludlow-Palafox who has been working on the idea for over eight years alongside his supervisor, Howard Chase, Professor of Biochemical and Environmental Engineering and former head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge.

Ludlow-Palafox, Co-Founder and CTO, said, "The opportunity for Enval is immense. Drink cartons collection and partial recycling has been increasing at a rate of 12 per cent per year since 1992, but there is tremendous room for growth if we can recover value from the residue of the paper recycling process, in a manner that is not only environmentally friendly but that also brings large economical advantages.”

He said Enval’s process will result in many more tonnes of drink cartons being collected for recycling.

Boyd Mulvey, Chief Executive of CREATE, said the process offers a simple and cost-effective solution to solving a serious environmental problem. “Enval has a robust, patented technology, and, now with venture capital and angel investor backing, the company has the financial resources to deliver that solution.”