The recovery of energy or fuel from waste materials (e.g. mixed plastics) is appealing, and is already a large international industry. It should yield substantial environmental benefits, as many plastics are not routinely recycled, and certain 'awkward' items of refuse (e.g. crisp packets) will always be very difficult to recycle. With landfill space running out in the UK, energy-from-waste could play a large role in reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfill. From an energy perspective, energy-from-waste could be a valuable addition to the energy mix : one that is carbon neutral, improves energy security, and which helps control energy costs. Despite these advantages, energy-from-waste has not taken off as fast as was hoped. This is because energy-from-waste schemes face difficulties in pre-processing waste material and post-processing the output gases and liquids. What we propose is to demonstrate a radically new technique in which we use strong UV light to help catalyze the thermal breakdown of waste materials. With this catalysis the temperature at which thermal breakdown occurs can be greatly reduced, which is of enormous benefit in industrial thermolysis, and it is also expected that the UV irradiation will help remove a substantial amount of undesirable compounds in the output gases.