Composite Recycling has announced a strategic collaboration with Owens Corning’s glass reinforcements business to develop sustainable solutions for composite waste and advance industrial-scale circular economy initiatives. The relationship will focus on incorporating the reclaimed glass fibers from Composite Recycling’s advanced recycling process into Owens Corning’s existing glass reinforcements production lines. Composites, which are often made up of fibers (such as carbon or glass) and reinforced plastics (such as epoxy or polyester resin), can be challenging to recycle. This makes them a contributor to landfill waste, with annual composite waste amounts for wind turbine and aircraft industries alone projected to hit a combined 840,000 tons by 2050.

The collaboration between Composite Recycling and Owens Corning creates an opportunity to promote the reuse of composite waste, reduce landfill contributions and provide industries with innovative ways to recycle and reuse materials. It is also designed to achieve several key objectives, including: Optimizing Material Integration: The parties will jointly develop and refine methodologies to incorporate recycled materials from the composite recycling process into Owens Corning’s production streams of reclaimed glass fibers, which are used by industries such as boating, automotive, transportation, aerospace and construction materials, ensuring material performance and quality.

Together, the companies will drive the industrialization and scaling of Composite Recycling’s recycling technology to make the process cost-effective and efficient at scale, addressing the challenges of recycling composite waste in multiple industries. They will also work together to establish circular economy systems that handle composite waste throughout its lifecycle.

“Our cutting-edge recycling approach — using a technology called thermolysis — transforms how we handle composite waste, enabling us to convert it into valuable secondary raw materials for industry,” says Guillaume Perben, co-founder of Composite Recycling. “This collaboration is a significant step forward in demonstrating how composite waste can be reintegrated into a variety of products and provides us with the opportunity to scale our technology and make a meaningful impact across industries.” “

We’re committed to reducing our environmental impact, and this collaboration brings us one step closer to that goal,” says Chris Skinner, Vice President of Strategic Marketing and R&D for Owens Corning’s glass reinforcements business. “By incorporating glass fiber into composite materials used to produce automotive parts, building materials, and insulation products, we are demonstrating the circularity and benefit of recycling composite materials.