Paijit Sangchai dropped a small piece of laminated paper into a jar of cloudy liquid which he hopes will transform his start-up into a multi-million dollar company and help revolutionize recycling.

"Now this is the fun part," he said a few minutes later, holding it under the tap to wash away soggy paper pulp and revealed 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.

The resulting pulp, he said, 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.

In developing countries such as Thailand, laminated paper is usually thrown away, said Paijit.

"Most people burn it illegally and that causes toxic fumes which harm people's health," he said at his small laboratory in a science park on the northern outskirts of Bangkok.

"For people in developing countries who suffer from the fumes and don't know why they are sick ... it can help improve their lives," he added.

And while developed countries like the US are able to incinerate laminated paper such as fast food wrappers safely, they do not have any commercially viable way to recycle it either, he said.

(Source: Thai tech pioneer converts waste into wealth [Taipei Times])