JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #113 - June 2017 - 16

BUSlNESS

Recycling

17
19

Second life

Start-up of an experimental recycling
line for composite materials
Testing the use of recycled carbon fibres
in China's Chery electric vehicle
Thermoset resin - Part A

Continued growth for thermosets

BUSlNESS recycling

Start-up of an experimental recycling
line for composite materials
At JEC World 2017, Cetim-Cermat presented its new pilot line dedicated
to the recycling of plastics and composites. The line is set up in Mulhouse
(eastern France).

he development of
Thermosaïc® technology has passed a new milestone with the start-up of a new
recycling line that was developed and built to specification.
Delivered in late 2016, the new
pilot line prefigures the industrial lines of the future.
Thermoplastic
composite waste
The line serves for the continuous production of structural panels from thermoplastic
composite waste. The crushed,
sorted and shredded waste is
randomly deposited by several delivery modules onto a conveyor belt, where they are thermocompression-bonded into
sheets. These are delivered in
the desired length at the end of
the line, to be cut, folded, welded or hot-formed into strong,
lightweight parts.

The materials produced using
the Thermosaïc® technology
have high mechanical strength,
since the length of the reinforcement fibres in the shredded waste is kept sufficiently
long (from 30 to 200 mm). The
original structure of the waste
makes the materials quasi-isotropic and easier to shape using thermocompression or thermoforming than is the case for
standard continuous-fibre composites.
An innovative patented line
The line is unusual not only for
its multifunctionality (it enables
the upgrade of a broad variety of
matrices and reinforcements)
but also, and especially, for its
modularity: the input modules
can be replaced between production cycles by modules for
unwinding films and reinforcement, thereby transforming the
line to adapt to ThermoPRIME,
the other recycling technology developed by the Cetim-

jec composites magazine / No113 June 2017

Cermat and its partners.
ThermoPRIME technology consists of combining long-fibre or
fabric reinforcements with recycled plastics to produce composite materials with mechanical properties that are much
higher than those of the original
material (5 to 10 times higher),
while offsetting the loss of properties from aged, recycled plastics.
Thermosaïc® and ThermoPRIME® technologies have
been developed in partnership
with Airpur, Paprec Plastiques,
Plastiform and IS2M.

A platform for composites
and recycling
The new experimental line has
been set up within a brand-new
platform located in Mulhouse.
The platform also provides the
technical means to prepare the
waste upstream of the process
and, downstream, to demonstrate the uses for these new recycled materials. Its inauguration is scheduled for October
2017.
More information:
www.cetim-cermat.com

The line serves for the production of structured panels from waste

http://www.cetim-cermat.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #113 - June 2017