Toray Industries has successfully used a pyrolysis process to recover and recycle the Torayca carbon fibre used in the production process of Boeing 787 components, the company has announced. The recycled carbon fibre was subsequently used by Hong Kong-based consumer electronics company Lenovo in its ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 as reinforcement filler for thermoplastic pellets. Toray and Lenovo will continue to collaborate to expand the usage of rCF in other Lenovo products.
Torayca is an established aerospace material, known for its high strength, stiffness, and lightweighting properties. Toray began supplying Boeing in 1975 when it first qualified Torayca T300 carbon fibre for commercial application on the Boeing 737. Since then, Toray has provided high-performance carbon fibre and highly toughened, primary structure carbon fiber composite prepreg on various programmes. The new rCF was developed in response to Boeing’s striving both to reduce the volume of solid waste going to landfill and to produce recyclable materials.
Collaborating with universities and industry, Boeing has helped advance technology for recovering carbon fiber from composite materials, said the aerospace company.
For Lenovo, the product offered a means to reduce the carbon footprint of their products.
“Lenovo is committed to implementing sustainable practices and strive to make a positive social and environmental impact through our business,” said Lenovo executive director of commercial product solutions development Yasumichi Tsukamoto. “Working with Toray and Boeing to integrate recycled carbon fibre material into our next generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon is another step in our transition to a circular economy.”
A key advantage of carbon fibre is its ability to retain its primary mechanical properties even after the recycling process. Toray is therefore actively working to advance recycling technologies and to establish a strategic business model for rCF. The company is promoting use of the recycled carbon fibre in customers’ products, pointing to the environmental wins that this could bring due to the lower carbon footprint of rCF versus virgin fibre - efforts that align with Toray’s dedication to fostering a circular economy and reducing landfill waste.