Chemical recycling

Recycling by physical processes such as shredding, grinding and re-melting or re-compounding, without breaking the polymer down chemically. Thermoplastics can often be re-melted into new products, whereas thermoset composites typically yield ground filler or short fibre fractions for lower-grade uses.

Carbon fibre reclaimed from manufacturing waste or end-of-life components, usually by pyrolysis or solvolysis, and supplied in chopped, milled or nonwoven mat forms. It is generally shorter and less consistent than virgin fibre, so it suits nonstructural and semi-structural applications where full aerospace-grade properties are not required.

The stage in a product's life cycle when it is removed from service and must be reused, recycled, recovered or disposed of. End-of-life scenarios are a required consideration in life cycle assessment and increasingly influence material selection for composites and roofing systems.

An economic model that keeps products and materials in use for as long as possible through reuse, repair, remanufacture and recycling, in contrast to the linear take, make, dispose model. In materials specification it drives requirements for recycled content, design for disassembly and credible end-of-life routes.