Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites are expensive, highly engineered structural materials that offer many advantages over traditional structural metals such as aluminum or steel. Due to their light weight and high strength, transportation industries increasingly use CFRP for fuel efficiency. Unlike aluminum and steel, there is no efficient method to recycle this material at the end of its useful life. Post-consumer, their increased use means increased waste, contributing to landfills and aircraft graveyards. Furthermore, product producers can scrap up to 30% of the carbon fiber they purchased during manufacturing. This increasing and expensive waste is not sustainable.

Current recycling strategies use extreme temperatures (up to 800°C) to destroy the polymer binding, leaving the charred carbon fibers behind. The pyrolysis shreds the fibers and risks damaging them, condemning them to lower-quality applications. That process also fails to recover any of the polymer, instead, converting it into harmful greenhouse gasses. Because chemistry binds the polymer to the material, we believe chemistry should disassemble it!

Closed Composites has the most sustainable process to recycle the CFRP. We use mild solvents and far less energy to recover carbon fibers in pristine condition, along with the recycled organic compounds to cast future resins. Creating circularity and closing the composite loop with these vital resources is a lower-cost and more sustainable option.

Closed Composites was founded by researchers Carlos Navarro, Katelyn Michael, Dr. Yijia Ma, and their advisor Travis Williams.  Now a business entity, we offer a dual technology to transform carbon fiber waste and improve surface bonding.  

Closed Composites is a 2022 National Science Foundation iCorps grant recipient, a Wrigley Sustainability prize winner, and a Breakthrough Energy Ventures Climate Change prize winner.