R&D team claims ‘ultra fast’ recycling of glass fibre-reinforced plastic

Researchers at Rice University in Texas, USA have developed an energy-efficient method to transform glass fibre-reinforced plastic (GFRP) into silicon carbide (SiC).

The material is commonly used in the manufacture of large products such as semiconductors, aircraft and wind turbine blades. But recyclers struggle to recycle GFRP once they are decommissioned.

‘We end up burying whole wing structures of aircraft and air turbines blades in landfill,’ says Professor James Tour. ‘Disposing of GFRP this way is just unsustainable. Until now, there has been no good way to recycle it.’

Tour believes his research team’s breakthrough represents a solvent-free and energy-efficient flash upcycling method enabling ultrafast conversion of this complex waste stream. He cites high material recovery of over 90%. The SiC powders obtained can be used as the anode material for lithium-ion batteries. 

Using the new process, GFRP is ground into a mixture of plastic and carbon. More carbon can be added to make the mixture conductive. The researchers then apply high voltage through two electrodes, with the temperature reaching almost 3 000 Celsius.

As a next step, Rice University is looking to take its experiments out of the laboratory environment. Tour hopes interested parties will reach out to help scale up the results.