US giant Kraft Foods is partnering with Cambridge-based CleanTech company Enval to support construction of the first commercial scale plant in the UK for Enval’s patented material recovery technology. It will be based in Luton.

Kraft has joined a new consortium formed by Enval, a Cambridge University spinout, designed to generate industry best practice.

Enval’s recycling equipment will be sold, ultimately, to companies that offer waste handling services. While Kraft Foods may not be a direct customer of Enval, consumer product companies recognise that Enval’s technology offers an environmentally favourable end-of-life solution for difficult-to-recycle pouches and tubes based on plastic and aluminium laminates.

The benefits of a genuine recycling solution for these packaging formats are so significant that Enval is working closely with manufacturers throughout the packaging supply chain to bring together a consortium of companies committed to tackling the sustainability of laminate packaging.

American-owned Kraft – headquartered in Northfield, Illinois – is among the first to join this select group.

Perfecto Perales, a director at Kraft said: “We're proud of our track record as an industry leader supporting innovative groups to help advance recycling and reduce waste.

“We're hopeful the Enval Consortium will build on our past successes with other groups that proved effective in driving the collection and re-use of post-consumer flexible packaging waste.

“The Enval Consortium brings together a cross industry group of people from across the supply chain, focused on determining the commercial merits of this promising technology for aluminum recovery in flexible films.”

Enval’s patented technology offers a genuine recycling route for plastic aluminium-foil flexible packaging laminate, which has to date been unrecyclable.

Packaging systems based on these materials, such as pouches for drinks and petfood, aseptic drink cartons and laminate tubes, may be completely recovered for recycling using Enval's process and equipment.

Enval's award-winning technology separates the laminate material into its constituent components, producing clean aluminium ready for reintroduction into the secondary aluminium supply chain.

The plastic is converted into a pyrolysis gas, which can be used to generate electricity. Enval's process is economically and environmentally viable and offers a much more beneficial outcome for this packaging waste, which might otherwise be sent to landfill or incinerated.

David Boorman, Enval’s business development director, said: “Enval is delighted to announce Kraft Foods’ membership of the Enval Consortium.

“The primary purpose of the  consortium is to share the capital cost of building the first Enval commercial plant and drive awareness of the technology to accelerate its adoption.

“Enval's focus now is on constructing the new plant so that it is ready for commissioning early next year and then commencing commercial operations soon after that. Kraft Foods is also further demonstrating its commitment to tackling environmental issues head on and are helping to pave the way for the rapid commercialisation of the Enval technology.”

Enval has just won the ‘Best New Technology’ prize at the National Recycling Awards. The NRA rewards and supports recycling and waste management achievements across all sectors of business.

• Photograph shows: Enval’s business development director, David Boorman