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The U.K.’s ELG Carbon Fibre, a supplier of recycled carbon fiber materials, has plans to increase the capacity of its facility to meet increasing demand for large-volume, commercial applications that require product supply on a significant scale. This growth has been driven predominately by development projects and technical collaborations with leading automotive and aerospace OEM’s and Tier 1s during the past two years.

The company is focusing its investments on increasing the capacity to recover carbon fiber from uncured prepreg and laminate feedstock and the commercialization of the company’s Carbiso MB product line of masterbatches for reinforced thermoplastic compounds.

ELG’s existing facility currently houses highly specialized reclamation and conversion equipment that supports the manufacture of recycled carbon fiber products to be reintroduced into the supply chain.

In 2016, to promote the use of recycled carbon in the composites industry, ELG installed a custom-built, nonwoven production line to manufacture carbon fiber and hybrid thermoplastic mats in aerial weights from 100-500gsm/0.2205-1.102 lb/m(2) and widths up to 2.7m (8.6 ft). These products are currently being used in production automotive programs.

ELG is now focusing on the commercialization of the Carbiso MB products for the reinforced thermoplastic compounds industry. MB products are produced through the conversion of high-grade, chopped fibers into a pellet form and tailored to applications that would traditionally have used chopped virgin carbon fiber.