With the UK’s oldest offshore wind turbines nearing the end of their planned operational life at 25 years in 2027, the need to further embed sustainable Circular Economy processes and policies throughout our economy has increased in both pace and importance.
To that end, we are keen to shine the spotlight on a few of the successful companies who, one might argue, remain ahead of the curve leading innovation and having achieved commercial success in the decarbonisation sector, actively recycling high value materials such as the carbon fibre material contained in wind turbines.
One such company is Gen 2 Carbon Ltd based in Coseley in the West Midlands – company strapline: ‘Material solutions for a greener future’. The company was established in 2021, though has roots stretching back to 2009 in industrial scale recovery of carbon fibre from composite waste. Gen 2 Carbon provides support services and recycled carbon fibre products for clients keen to reduce their environmental impact throughout the full product lifecycle, from initial manufacture through to end-of-life and on to the next life.
Growing global demand
Gen 2 Carbon’s teams are actively involved in the automotive, aerospace, marine, rail and electronics sectors.
More recently, they have engaged with the renewable energy industry and work closely with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 companies to support the transition to a more comprehensive circular economy through recycling carbon fibre materials from wind turbines back into new products for the renewables and other sectors. Recycled carbon fibre products have a significantly lower environmental footprint – lower energy use, reduced CO2 emissions and lower water use – compared with the production of virgin carbon fibre and lightweight metals including aluminium, magnesium and titanium.
The global demand for carbon fibre, and the accompanying waste from carbon fibre products, has escalated in recent years and shows no sign of reducing. Estimates suggest that carbon fibre waste will increase from 56,000 tonnes per year, recorded in 2021, to more than 100,000 tonnes each year by 2030. Currently, less than 2,000 tonnes of carbon fibre waste is recycled and returned to the market despite recycled carbon fibre possessing sufficient technical capability to meet approximately 25% of projected future demand.
Highly-skilled niche market and key partnerships
Historically, the carbon fibre manufacturing industry has lagged behind other industries – for example the aluminium industry which has grown steadily since the 1950s, partly due to its focus on recycling high value materials which, in turn, has delivered significant cost reductions.
Growing international demand for skilled, sustainable recycling of carbon fibre material is the market niche in which Gen 2 Carbon operates. The company produces over 200 tonnes of recycled carbon fibre products annually, with plans to increase yearly production to more than to 2,000 tonnes by 2026, and expanding into overseas markets such as the USA.
Demand from the hydrogen sector alone is expected to reach several hundred tonnes annually by 2030. This rapid increase in demand has also been largely driven by growth in the renewables sector, for applications ranging from pressure vessels for hydrogen storage to gas diffusion membranes and bipolar plates in fuel cells.
Frazer Barnes, Founder and CTO at Gen 2 Carbon explains: “Our growth plans will build on established relationships in key industry sectors, as well as our long-standing research partnerships with leading UK universities including Birmingham, Nottingham and Warwick, and Deakin University in Victoria, Australia.
“Recycled carbon fibre products are viable replacements for a number of materials – for example aluminium, glass fibre reinforced polymers, and carbon fibre reinforced composites – and are well suited for everyday products including automotive exteriors and interiors, aircraft interiors and electronics casings.
“We are passionate about reusing the waste generated in manufacturing, ensuring that our industry becomes more sustainable. In pursuit of that goal, we have a pilot project with the University of Birmingham exploring how we can potentially collect and reuse the pyrolysis gas generated during the fibre recovery process with the ultimate aim of that energy source fuelling our recycling operations and reducing the carbon footprint to close to zero.”
Industry benefits
Recycling carbon fibre makes even greater sense, both practically and commercially, when set against the current procurement landscape whereby supply of virgin carbon fibre has become more challenging due to manufacturing shortages and supply chain bottle necks, with steadily increasing carbon fibre pricing.
The Gen 2 Carbon team recommends that virgin carbon fibre be reserved solely for situations requiring light weight combined with high tensile strength, such as aircraft and spacecraft parts, pressure vessels, and wind turbine blade spars.
They point out that the volume of carbon fibre in end-of-life components is expected to exceed 40,000 tonnes per year within a decade, with disposal requiring approximately 160,000 m3 of landfill per year – roughly equivalent to the waste disposal needs of 400,000 people.
Their teams recognise that a change in mindset will be necessary for industry to fully embrace recycled carbon fibre products but are confident that, in so doing, multiple sectors could overcome key material shortages, cost and environmental impacts while achieving long-term benefits.
Future challenges
Gen 2 Carbon’s ambitious growth plans will require that they secure sufficient investment to support and accelerate expansion, with one key target project focussed on assessing the carbon footprint of different production processes.
A further challenge lies in the lack of infrastructure to disassemble wind turbine blades – the current recycling industry being too small in size to process the size and volume of waste that is and will be generated. The Gen 2 Carbon team believes that the availability of industry-qualified recycled carbon fibres will strengthen the business case for scaling up our current recycling facilities. By locating commercial recycling facilities close to sites of high-volume waste generation, a clear route could be opened up for developing the necessary recycling infrastructure.
The company supports the creation of industry-recognised standards for grades of virgin and recycled carbon fibre. Such grading standards already exist for aluminium and steel products, yet few have been agreed for fibre products with those in existence governing only specific tests. This lack of industry standards can complicate manufacturing with different customers having quite different requests and requirements, many of which could be met by recycled carbon fibre’s inherent flexibility. Established standards could also potentially deliver improved accessibility for procurement as well as reassurances for product quality, leading to more frequent product substitution and a move away from specialty to commodity-type applications.
