Mitsubishi Chemical will be involved in a carbon fibre recycling business. Their technique is employed to retrieve carbon fibres included in disposed/used CFRPs and then process them for reuse. They will promote their recycled carbon fibres to be applied to CFRPs for automotive materials, for example. The recycled carbon fibres also can be utilised as additives improving thermal resistance of resins, or can help reduce cost. The supply cost of the recycled carbon fibres is lower than that of virgin products, while the recycled ones have less strength and less thermal resistance than virgin ones. The advantage in cost-competitiveness would bring new customers and new applications. To start their recycling operation, Mitsubishi Chemical will first use CFRPs produced and categorised as below standard in their own facilities. In future, their technique would cover a variety of CFRPs collected from outside their production bases too.

JCFA News Letter (No.15) May, 2018/Japan Chemical Fibers Association