Each year about 110.000t of carbon fiber composite parts and 4.500.000t of glass fiber composites are used. 98% of these parts end up in landfills at the end of their life. To address this problem the MC4 project aims at establishing a multi-level circular process for carbon and glass fiber composite. Multi-level means that processes will be developed for short-term implementation with immediate impact and for the longer term with a wider impact on industry. Carbon and glass fiber have substantially different costs and the project takes this into account by developing economically feasible procedures that are based on chemical matrix/fibre separation for carbon fibre and on a new type of resin for the direct re-use of the composite for glass fibre. Quality grading of the recycled material will be a key element to ensure a proper use in the different domains and to minimize the need for "downcycling".
To create impact on the short term the project is also investigating methods for the mechanical recycling of glass fibre composites, with the goal of re-using larger (5-10cm) pieces of material to take advantage of the mechanical properties of the composites (rather than converting it into particles used as filler). Finally, the re-use of uncured carbon fibre scrap directly in the production process will be investigated to convert the scrap material to re-usable roll material or to directly re-use it in (smaller) parts. Within the supply chain investigated in the project the overall goal is to achieve a recycling rate of at least 60%.
As an additional benefit, the project will enable European material manufacturers to develop their own, patented processes for manufacturing of recycled material. Currently, 80% of the manufacturing of virgin carbon and glass fibre is taking place outside of Europe and the manufacturing technologies used inside of Europe are often licensed from foreign countries. MC4 puts particular emphasis on the design and manufacturing of best practice examples of parts made from recycled materials. For six different domains, including automotive, aerospace, sports equipment, boats, urban furniture and civil engineering, composite products will be manufactured, with the aim of demonstrating the use of recycled material and enhancing the demand side for recycled material in the different domains. The consortium includes process developers, material manufacturers and SME end users, who manufacture composite parts. It covers the whole value chain and thus enables the creation of real circular process for composites.
