What Makes a Carbon Fiber Part Truly Recyclable?

Most carbon fiber parts marketed as “recyclable” today are actually downcycled: shredded, burned, or degraded into filler-grade reuse. This article defines what true recyclability looks like, and how Holy Technologies enables it: through design-for-recycling, cleavable resin systems, and fiber recovery workflows that preserve structural performance across multiple lifecycles, all in line with emerging regulatory and industry demands.

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New to composites? Then we recommend reading this article that covers a detailed explanation of what composites are, what types there are, and how they are generally made.

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What Recyclability Should Mean

"Recyclable" has become a buzzword in the world of carbon fiber components. But what many teams often encounter is not real recyclability, it is downcycling. The parts that are marketed as recyclable are typically shredded, thermally broken down, or chemically processed through inefficient methods of recycling carbon fiber  or  recycling composites, resulting in materials suitable only for filler-grade or non-structural applications.

Real recyclability in carbon fiber design demands more. It should mean preserving the performance and value of materials, enabling reuse in the same kinds of applications they were designed for. With new legislative frameworks in place, and mounting pressure to reduce embodied emissions and material waste, recyclability is no longer aspirational, but a requirement.

This article defines what 100% recyclability in carbon fiber components means. It compares the state of the art, presents Holy Technologies' approach, and offers actionable insights for engineering teams in aerospace, automotive, and industrial sectors.

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Legislation Raises the Stakes

The current state of recycling in the composites industry leaves much to be desired. In most cases, what is labeled as "recyclable" results in extensive downcycling. Methods like pyrolysis and mechanical shredding drastically degrade fiber quality and come at high energy consumption, making the recovered material unsuitable for high-performance use. As a result, these materials are often relegated to filler-grade parts or, worse, end up in landfills. The environmental cost of these practices is mounting, and so is the urgency to solve them.

For sectors like aerospace, automotive, and advanced manufacturing, where composite usage is both strategic and growing, this creates a material responsibility problem. Designers and engineers are being asked not just to build stronger and lighter, but also more sustainably. And governments are beginning to legislate accordingly.

In the European Union, the shift is especially clear. Regulations now require manufacturers to use recyclable materials and demonstrate end-of-life strategies. The automotive sector is impacted by directives such as the ELV legislation. Broader policy instruments like the Circular Economy Action Plan mandate sustainability not as a goal but as a baseline for eligibility across procurement, compliance, and even capital investment. Hence, more manufacturers are now exploring solutions offered by carbon fiber recycling companies and vendors that promise better reuse outcomes.

But if most so-called recycling still results in waste, what does real recyclability actually mean?

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Defining Real Recyclability

In carbon composites, "recyclable" is too often misunderstood. It does not mean reusing waste; it means preserving value. We consider a composite part is 100% recyclable when all its constituent materials, fiber and resin, can be fully separated, recovered, and reused for equivalent applications without generating waste.

For a carbon fiber part to be considered truly recyclable, at Holy Technologies we believe we must:

• Retain fiber length and mechanical strength after use;

• Use resins that allow clean and efficient separation without high temperatures or contamination;

• Enable recovered materials to be used in equivalent high-performance applications;

• Ensure traceability of material identity throughout multiple life cycles.

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Recycling should not lower the bar. It should allow teams to build high-performance parts, again and again. But most recycling methods today fall short of that definition, the next section describes why.

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Conventional Methods and Their Limits

1. Mechanical Grinding: This process shreds parts into small flakes or chopped fibers. It is low-cost and scalable, but destroys fiber alignment and length. The result is non-structural material, only usable in low-performance fillers
2. ‍Pyrolysis: This thermal method removes resin through incineration. It often weakens the fibers, requires a lot of energy, and releases emissions. Fiber quality is partially retained but inconsistent.
3. ‍Supercritical Fluid Extraction: An emerging solution using fluids like CO₂ at high pressure to separate resins. Promising, but costly and not yet industry standard.

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These approaches are reactive, not recovery-oriented. They manage waste, but do not preserve value. Where conventional methods fall short, Holy Technologies offers a fundamentally different approach: one built to preserve value from the start. The next section describes how.

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Holy Technologies: Closed-Loop Recycling

Holy Technologies supports customers across the full product lifecycle — from design and prototyping to production and recovery — through closed-loop recycling, where materials are reused in structurally equivalent applications. Achieving this starts with a design-for-recycling mindset, where every part is engineered from the outset for separation, reuse, and performance retention.

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Our closed-loop system is built on three core principles:

1. Single continuous fiber rovings: These preserve mechanical integrity and allow for full-strength reuse; unlike chopped or shredded fibers, which suffer from reduced performance.
   
   
2. Recyclable resin systems: Using chemical solvolysis, systems like Recyclamine® separate cleanly at just 80°C, without burning or degrading the fibers.
   
   
3. Part traceability: Embedded QR codes link each part to its material history, enabling full lifecycle tracking and responsible recovery.

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From the start, our carbon fiber layups are engineered so they can be reversed, not shredded. Fiber paths are digitally mapped, allowing the unlaying process to mirror the original layup sequence. During recovery, precision jigs hold the geometry in place while fibers are carefully released intact and ready for reuse. We recover fibers through chemical solvolysis, a solvent-based process that dissolves the resin matrix while preserving fiber length, alignment, and mechanical properties. Closed-loop recycling is not an afterthought, it is built into every stage of our system. That is how we ensure high-performance, circular composites that can be reused again and again.

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The Recovery Workflow: Step by Step

Holy Technologies has developed an advanced, high-integrity fiber recovery system that balances circularity, mechanical performance, and cost-efficiency. The process focuses on optimizing fiber degradation rates, resin compatibility, and the reuse potential of each component:

1. Scan the part's QR code to access part-specific fiber, resin, and coating data.
2. Mount the part in a jig to hold geometry during the fiber recovery process.
3. Dissolve the resin: The part is submerged in a 40% acetic acid bath heated to ~70–80°C. This process works because the resin system used in our composites includes Recyclamine®, a cleavable curing agent that enables thermoset matrices to dissolve under mild conditions. The resin begins to dissolve within ~30 minutes to 3 hours, depending on part geometry and thickness.
4. Controlled fiber removal: Following the original layup path, fibers are carefully unwound to prevent tangling. An automated spool system aids retraction, relying on accurate traceability of fiber routing.
5. Washing and drying: Recovered fibers are washed thoroughly in water to remove acid residues. Any residual thermoplastic or binder is left intact unless a solvent step is added.
6. Respooling for reuse: The fiber is rewound on bobbins and dried. Final inspection and categorization by length and mechanical strength inform its second-life application.

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The system maintains fiber integrity with minimal degradation, even over several lifecycles. The integration of performance monitoring and feedback loops enables continual process optimization. This process delivers close-to-virgin fiber performance and significantly reduces CO₂ footprint compared to virgin material. It also allows flexibility in resin systems, though outcomes may vary.

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‍Engineering Integrity Over Multiple Lifecycles

We have conducted Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) to evaluate the ecological benefits of our recycling process. These assessments confirm that Holy Technologies’ circular composite system not only retains structural performance across multiple lifecycles but also significantly reduces CO₂ emissions and material waste compared to traditional manufacturing and disposal methods. Holy Technologies’ IFP (Infinite Fiber Placement) method supports multiple reuse cycles while preserving mechanical performance. Tests with Teijin IMS65 and CTP Recyclamine show:

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With ~97% retention across three lifecycles (based on 95% retention in the first cycle and 99% in the second), these materials remain viable for structural reuse. This is a key requirement for aerospace and mobility sectors.

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Recyclability vs. Retention

While a part may be 100% recyclable in design, the performance of the recovered material may not be identical to virgin material.

• 100% recyclable means the materials can be fully recovered and reused.
• 97% average retention means the fiber retains nearly all of its mechanical performance, after recovery, but not quite all.

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Real-World Carbon Fiber Applications

At Holy Technologies, we specialize in applications where strength, weight, and performance are essential. Our system rapidly delivers high-strength, lightweight parts with embedded functionality and design freedom. With built-in circularity, we ensure customers can focus on product innovation and maximizing performance, without having to worry about the environmental impact.

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Use case examples by industry:

• Automotive: From structural elements like wishbones and side profiles to load-bearing seat frames and suspension links, our system supports functional components where weight savings and performance are essential. Battery enclosures and other integration-heavy parts also benefit from our precision and recyclability.
• Aerospace: Ideal for secondary structural components and high-precision interior systems such as seat frames, overhead bins, lavatory elements, and contoured sidewall panels. We deliver strength, integration, and weight reduction, without extensive tooling.
• Industrial & Robotics: Frames, structural brackets, robotic end-effectors and/or housing arms, and custom end effectors. Our fiber-optimized designs ensure durability and reduced part weight.
• Healthcare: Orthotics, braces, and wearable components. The ability to tune stiffness and integrate features directly into the part supports both comfort and function.

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We support production from 50 to over 200,000 parts; with consistency you can count on at every batch size.

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Conclusion

Recyclability no longer has to mean downcycling. At Holy Technologies, it means preserving structural value and enabling reuse in high-performance applications. We design and build parts where innovation comes first — and recyclability is engineered in by default at no additional cost. Through closed-loop recycling with proven performance retention, we help teams meet sustainability goals without compromise. We deliver durable, lightweight, production-ready parts, cycle after cycle.

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Appendix: Glossary

Closed-loop recycling: A recovery system in which reclaimed materials are reused in equivalent structural applications, maintaining high mechanical performance and minimizing waste.

Design-for-recycling: An engineering approach where composite parts are intentionally designed for separation, material recovery, and structural reuse, enabling circularity without downcycling.

Downcycling: A process that reuses materials in lower-grade applications with reduced performance.

Recyclamine®: A recyclable thermoset epoxy resin by Aditya Birla that dissolves in mild acid at low temperature.

Circular economy: An economic model that eliminates waste by keeping materials in use through reuse, recycling, and regenerative design.