Positioning supercritical solvolysis among innovative recycling and current waste management scenarios for carbon fiber reinforced plastics thanks to comparative life cycle assessment

Global consumption of carbon fibers reinforced polymer (CFRP) is rising and the management of waste is an issue of high concern. In order to implement a sustainable carbon fiber recycling sector, there is a need to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of recycling processes. In this context, we compared current end-of-life scenarios (landfilling and incineration) with recycling technologies: pyrolysis, supercritical solvolysis and electrodynamic fragmentation using life cycle assessment. We conducted two analyses: a comparison between the CFRP end-of-life processes and a comparison including the substituted products from the recycled carbon fibers. When only considering the end-of-life processes, recycling processes have a higher environmental impact as they require higher energy demand than incineration or landfilling.When considering product substitution, recycling is environmentally beneficial since they replace the production of virgin products. Results are variable depending on the technology readiness level and the quality of fibers recovered from the recycling processes. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.