Composites and Sustainability: CU Switzerland Online Forum

Within the three-day online forum “Composites and Sustainability”, there will be a total of five keynotes and 20 presentations on the general topic of sustainability with the spotlight on composites.

The event will be concluded with a panel discussion about the holistic approach for composites recycling, in which high-ranking representatives will shed light on the topic from different perspectives (business, science, politics).

Meet the NCC

Kyle Pender, our Research Engineer in the NCC's Sustainability team, will be presenting on the Effective use of Recycled Carbon Fibre Composites. 

After widespread adoption in recent years, the aerospace industry has become the dominant user of carbon fibre composites (CFRP). Despite the high value of virgin counterparts, and the environmental impact associated with their production, waste CFRP is widely viewed as a liability under the current paradigm, in part due to a lack in confidence in recyclate reuse applications.

This work looks to transform this waste into a value stream through demonstration of economically viable and environmentally friendly recycling, reprocessing, and reuse of real-world aerospace CFRP waste. It is anticipated that a demonstration of route-to-market for CFRP recyclates will give confidence in these materials and encourage their uptake in second life composite applications.