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We use plastic every day, but it is one of the most difficult materials to recycle. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently reported that in America, only 8% or 2.4 million tons of all plastic waste is recovered for recycling. The amount of plastic waste we create is expected to grow. The need to find plastic waste recycling solutions has never been so urgent.

So, finding a company that, after years of research and brilliant innovation, has developed a chemical process that offers a recycling route for plastic and aluminium laminate packaging, you take note. Especially when this type of plastic packaging has, hitherto, been viewed as unrecyclable. Enval, the company concerned, can separate waste material into its constituent components, recovering 100% of the aluminium present in the laminate - clean and ready to reuse. As an offshoot they are producing oils and gases suitable for heat and electricity production, or to be used as chemical feedstock.

15 years ago Cambridge Professor, Howard Chase, started investigating potential environmental applications arising from the microwave heating of carbon. Shortly afterwards, he supervised Carlos Ludlow's PhD project, leading to substantial research into the microwave pyrolysis of plastics and plastic-containing wastes. Realising they were onto something fantastic they successful set up worldwide patents, and proper development of their technology began. They're now completing their first commercial-scale recycling plant, located in Alconbury, U.K.

Ludlow explains, "The process uses microwave induced pyrolysis, treating the waste in the absence of oxygen. As opposed to incineration, pyrolysis takes place without the combustion of the waste material avoiding the production of greenhouse gases or toxic emissions. As the Enval process uses microwave energy as the source of heat, if we use renewable or green electricity we can make the process carbon neutral."

To demonstrate the process further, a commercial-scale prototype plant was developed to show the benefits of the process to potential customers and investors.

Enval, however, needed state-of-the-art technology to match their aspirations. This is where the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program came in. "Being a small company with a limited budget, having access to technology like that from Autodesk is not always possible. As a Clean Tech partner, we can function on a much more professional level," says Ludlow. "We are not designing products or components, but a chemical process with complex installations. We need to know what the factory will look like, how different equipment and pipes will connect with each other and what instrumentation we will need. We need to put it together using flow diagrams and process and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs). This is where Autodesk comes in". Ludlow added that what made a big difference is the ability to communicate with their potential customers, suppliers and manufacturers using Autodesk files, "You can send your diagrams and drawings in Autodesk file format, which greatly adds to your credibility."

Catherine White, head engineer at Enval, provided more detail about specific Autodesk solutions, "We used Autodesk® Inventor® from the Autodesk® Product Design Suite Ultimate, to design a component rather than a 2D technical drawing, subsequently producing the drawings the manufacturer needed from the Inventor model" she explains. When it came to designing their plant, White also found Autodesk® Factory Design Suite, Autodesk® AutoCAD® P&ID and Autodesk® Navisworks extremely useful, "We use a lot of piping, and used the 'Tube and Pipe Environment' with Autodesk Factory's standardised piping equipment to route pipes. We then synchronised the layout between Inventor and AutoCAD Architecture, resulting in faster generation of 2D views to incorporate into the stakeholder's site. Autodesk AutoCAD P&ID takes the design of P&IDs to a new level of professionalism. And with Navisworks, we're able to give potential customers or investors an in-depth 3D overview of our plant - showing them exactly what we're about - digital prototyping at its best." Ludlow also elaborates on the reaction of potential customers. "There is enormous value in being able to send our potential customers Autodesk files which they can incorporate into their existing files, see that our solution works really well with their existing processes. The more you can adapt to customer's requirements, the easier it is for the customer to accept your solution."

Ludlow experienced this first-hand when Enval recently with a very important future customer. "Instead of having to start from scratch to see where we could locate our equipment in their plant, we were able to overlay layers of our plant into their already existing plant, saving an immense amount of time. Time is money," Ludlow explained.

Enval is just starting to commercialise their technology. The potential to massively reduce the amount of plastic packaging waste ending up in landfills, not only in the U.K., but in the rest of the world, is enormous. Autodesk is proud, therefore, to cheer them on as they go, and be part of the positive impact they're having on the environment.
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