Global – ELG Carbon Fibre has joined forces with Land Rover BAR to recycle and reuse as much carbon fibre from the America’s Cup sailboat racing competition.
ELG has been named technical supplier to the America’s Cup racing team and will process all carbon fibre manufacturing waste and end-of use parts – such as boat hulls and foils – to recover the high performance carbon fibres they contain.
The material will be processed into ELG’s milled and chopped fibres to yield thermoset and thermoplastic compounds and nonwoven mats. ELG’s product engineers will work closely with Land Rover BAR’s own engineering team to develop applications for the recycled carbon fibre for Great Britain’s entry in the 36th America’s Cup.
The partners point out that their collaboration is based on successful feasibility studies that prove high quality carbon fibres can be recovered from the process waste and end-of-use parts and converted into products that are usable in the marine sector.
‘Our desire to be the world’s most sustainable sports team has meant that recycling the significant amounts of carbon fibre that we use in boat construction has been a concern for us for some while,’ comments Michel Marie, Land Rover BAR’s manufacturing manager.
He dubs this a big issue for ‘the wider world’ in the coming decades so it is vital that people start now and push hard to develop awareness and find ecological solutions for carbon fibre products.
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