Carbon Footprint Analysis of Fibre Reinforced Composite Recycling Processes

Abstract

Global rise of composite material demand has led to major legacy problems of manufacturing and end of life waste. The heterogeneous nature of composite material is the main challenge for recycling. In the European Union, tighter legislation on landfill, increasing landfill tax and loss of valuable material are driving the need for development of composite recycling technology. However, the recycling environmental benefits may not be optimised due to lack of high integrity environmental datasets. This study considered mechanical, high voltage fragmentation (HVF) and chemical recycling methods. New carbon footprint models were developed for each process. Experimental modelling was used to provide detailed process data associated with the processes. The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) of the processes were evaluated through life cycle assessment studies. This work identifies that the electrical energy demand dominates the overall resource footprint in mechanical and HVF recycling methods. For both processes, extended tool life and optimised processing rate could significantly reduce the carbon footprint per unit of weight of waste processed. Environmental impact of the chemical recycling method was highly dominated by acetone used as the solvent. The refined datasets generated in this study enable better resource analysis to minimise carbon footprint of composite recycling processes. This is hoped to help increase market value of the recyclates by highlighting the environmental benefits gained through potential reuse applications.