A Thai firm, Flexoresearch, has developed a series of blended enzymes that can recover pulp or fibre 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 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.

The technique, believed to be the first of its kind, also produces clean plastic that can be recycled and used to produce newproducts.

The firm was recently named one of 31 ‘Technology Pioneers’ by the World Economic Forum, which said its products were “poised to reduce the use of asbestos in the developing world, positively impacting people’s health.”

Time Magazine describedFlexoresearch as one of “10 start-ups that will change your life”.

It is a rare honour to be bestowed on an entrepreneur in a country hardly renowned for its technological prowess.