Coordination

Profactor GmbH (AUT)

Technology area

Materials engineering, Circular Economy, Recycling

Application area

Building industry, lightweight construction, aerospace, automotive industry, boat building, sports equipment, transport sector

Short description

Components made of carbon and glass fibre composites are essential for numerous technical applications, but difficult to recycle. In addition, during the production of composite parts, waste is produced that can be reintroduced into the production process for other components. The project investigates circular approaches for the reuse of carbon and glass fibre composites and develops process technologies and quality assurance methods that enable the economic recycling of carbon and glass fibre components. MC4 will focus on different reuse and recycling processes along the life cycle of composite parts. These include:

• Chemical recycling technologies for economically efficient separation of matrix and carbon fibres from composite parts
• Processing technologies for the reuse of prepreg waste from the production process (e.g. cutting)
• Mechanical recycling processes for components made of glass fibre composites for direct reuse of the material in new components
• New resins for improved recyclability of fibreglass components
• Technologies for processing recycled carbon fibres to produce yarns, fabrics and nonwovens for composite components
• Quality assurance methods for the characterisation of recycled glass and carbon fibre materials.

Project duration

01 April 2022 – 31 March 2025

Project partners

15 partners from 7 countries