Cross-supply-chain collaboration achieves world-first in carbon fibre recycling

NCC and CEAMS build on award-winning breakthroughs in carbon fibre circularity, working with UK industry to demonstrate a world-first use of reclaimed continuous carbon fibre (rCCF) in a prepreg product.

Carbon fibre increasingly supports many of the next-generation products found across key growth sectors like aerospace, energy, and defence.

With global demand rising fast, finding circular end-of-life solutions for carbon fibre parts is vital. However, it remains one of the most difficult materials to recycle – too often its highest-value properties are degraded or lost during processing.

NCC through CEAMS are working with UK industry to change that. This includes successfully reclaiming continuous carbon fibre (where the continuous fibres retain mechanical properties) and proving the material’s suitability for advanced manufacturing processes.

The next challenge: recycled continuous fibres for a prepreg aerospace part

Prepreg carbon fibre is the material of choice for performance applications such as aerospace. High precision, high quality, but more expensive to make – it represents a new bar for recycled material to meet.

NCC worked in collaboration with Cygnet Texkimp, SHD Composites and Teledyne CML Composites to manufacture an aircraft access panel using 100% recycled carbon fibre:

- Cygnet Texkimp recycled and extracted the carbon fibre tows using the DEECOM recycling process developed by B&M Longworth

- NCC respooled the reclaimed tows into production-ready bobbins

- SHD Composites converted the material into a prepreg product

- NCC manufactured an aerospace access panel demonstrator using tooling and manufacturing design supplied by Teledyne CML Composites

The achievement is a world-first use of recycled continuous carbon fibre, reclaimed from a composite part, being re-used for a prepreg product. Mechanical characterisation at SHD showed equivalence in both Vf and Stiffness when compared with virgin prepreg produced at the same parameters.

It takes the material one step closer to high performance applications in industries like aerospace and energy.

Jack Alcock, CEAMS Technology Creation Lead at NCC, said:

“We’re making real progress on carbon fibre circularity – and it’s an example of what NCC does best: bringing together the right people, with the right expertise, and the right technologies, from across industry.

Together with partners such as CEAMS – and backed by capabilities like our new Carbon Fibre Development Facility – we’ll continue to take on these big challenges. Doing so is vital to accelerating growth and competitiveness for the UK’s manufacturing supply chain.”

Ben Andrews, Product Technology Manager at SHD Composites, said:

"At SHD, we’re proud to support a project at the forefront of composite recycling technology, demonstrating that recycled carbon fibre can deliver specific stiffness solutions comparable to virgin material. The rapid collaboration with our partners highlights SHD’s ability to respond quickly to technical challenges and deliver advanced, more sustainable material solutions."