PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The use of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites in the transport sector has been rapidly growing, enabling lighter-weight and more fuel-efficient vehicles, renewable energy applications and design of goods. Indeed, the demand for CFRP in 2016 was around 63 500 tons and is expected to rise to 120 000 tons by 2022 with an average 11% annual growth rate. However, these new materials are still hard to recycle, meaning that a new generation of products will again be disposed of in landfills, although carbon fibres (CF) collected from process wastes currently trade at a 20-40% discount compared to virgin material. In other words, recovering good quality CFs could significantly increase the supply of lower cost raw materials and accelerate their uptake and the transition to a more sustainable economy. A number of international firms have been working on new technologies to reclaim CF that can be reintroduced into the value chain as chopped fibres. Nevertheless, there are some crucial barriers to overcome so these technologies can prove viable: (a) small-scale recycling is not convenient for scraps producers (pyrolysis plants start to be convenient when the amount of treated materials is above 1 000 tons/year); (b) it is difficult to return reclaimed fibre materials to the market, mainly because of lack of knowledge about their mechanical properties and processing characteristics; and (c) there are no large-scale demonstrators that can prove the economic, technical and environmental justification for using these materials.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of LIFE-CIRCE was to demonstrate that scraps of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) that have been impregnated with resins (so called CFRP prepreg) can be conveniently used in different sectors without the need for complex and energy-intensive reprocessing, thus lowering both raw material and manufacturing costs.
In particular, the project aimed to:
- design, construct and validate two innovative industrial pilot machines that enable CFRP prepregs sizing, treatment and packaging, by making the uncured CFRP scraps reusable;
- produce new products with recycled CFRP (e.g. carbo-ceramic brakes, toe caps, automotive components) and prove their technical and economic viability; and
- elaborate and establish a circular economy model for those materials through industrial symbiosis.
In this way, LIFE-CIRCE set-up a circular economy model for uncured CFRP prepreg materials that are defined by Italian legislation and the related European Directive 2008/98 as reusable industrial scraps. The ultimate goal of LIFE-CIRCE was 100% valorisation of this waste, which was transformed into a useful secondary raw material for other end-users. The project therefore contributed to meeting the objectives of the Circular Economy Action Plan and other relevant directives, such as the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98; recently amended by Directive 2018/851) and Directive 2010/75 on Industrial Emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control).
RESULTS
The project achieved the expected environmental impact by demonstrating that scraps of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) that have been impregnated with resins (so called CFRP prepreg) can be conveniently used in different sectors without the need for complex and energy-intensive reprocessing, thus lowering both raw material and manufacturing costs. The following main elements are noticed:
- The performances of the optimised demo-products (carbo-ceramic brakes, toe caps, automotive components) are comparable with the ones of the conventional products and compliant with required standards.
- The project completed the full business plan for setting-up a Collection and Recycling Centre (CRC) for recycling Carbon Fibre Reinforced Pre-preg (CFRP) scraps and operating at a national level. Financial metrics included in the plan show that the CIRCE business model is financially sustainable. In the first year of operation, assuming that 70% of the total processed pre-preg will be sold to third parties, the CRC generates a revenue of 4.34 M€.
- About 615 tons/year are expected to be processed from year 3 after the end of the project in the Collection and Recycling Centre (CRC).
- As for the recycling process of the CFRP scraps, the project recycled 10 tons of waste (CFRP scraps) and then calculated the reduction in impacts achieved by substituting virgin prepreg with recovered material and the overall production-process phases, namely:
- Reduction in energy consumption of 1,953 MWh/year
- Reduction in Particulate Matter of 0.69 tons/year
- Reduction in SOx of 2.2 tons/year
- Reduction in CO2eq of 373.6 tons/year
