CEAMS wins national award for breakthrough in recycled carbon fibre

The award celebrates the CEAMS consortium’s success in reclaiming continuous carbon fibre – one of the most challenging materials to recycle – and proving its reuse in advanced manufacturing processes. It is a significant step towards fully circular composite materials and more resilient, lower-carbon UK supply chains.

CEAMS is a collaboration between The Rochdale development agency, CPI, The Henry Royce Institute, High Value Manufacturing Catapult, the Manufacturing Technology Centre, NCC, National Physical Laboratory and the University of Manchester.

The project demonstrated that recycled continuous carbon fibre (rCCF) can be re-used to manufacture structural components, with comparable processability and strength. Trials included weaving, braiding, filament winding and tailored fibre placement – using up to 100% recycled content.

With global demand for carbon fibre rising fast – particularly in aerospace, clean transport and wind energy – the ability to recover and reuse this material at scale is vital.

The award was presented at the Composites UK Awards Dinner, held during the Advanced Engineering show at the National Motorcycle Museum.

Dr Sarah Want, Innovation Director at Unit M, University of Manchester, said:

This shows what’s possible when we bring the right people and ideas together. Recycled carbon fibre isn’t just a nice idea – it works.

We’ve put it through real processes, with real results. Now we want to see it used more widely across UK manufacturing.

Jack Alcock, CEAMS Technology Creation Lead, NCC, said:

There’s huge potential here. The team’s proved that recycled fibre can be put back into production without cutting corners. It’s a big step forward – and exactly the kind of practical progress the sector needs.

CEAMS is now seeking to expand collaboration with industry, academia and government to accelerate uptake of recycled fibre and unlock a more sustainable future for UK composites.