Recycling of fiber-reinforced composites and direct structural composite recycling concept

Abstract

Fiber-reinforced polymer composites are engineered materials commonly used for many structural applications because of the high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios. Although the service life of these materials in various applications is usually between 15 and 20 years, these often keep the physical properties beyond this time. Recycling composites using chemical, mechanical, and thermal processing is reviewed in this article. In this review of carbon, aramide, and glass fiber composites, we provide, as of 2011, a complete view of each composite recycling technology, highlight the possible energy requirements, explain the product outputs of recycling, and discuss the quality (fiber strength) of recyclates and how each recyclate fiber could be used in the market for sustainable composite manufacturing. This article also includes the new concept of ‘direct structural composite recycling’ and the use of these products in the same or different applications as low-cost composite materials after small modifications.