Faced with growing environmental challenges, the boating industry is striving to reduce its ecological footprint while maintaining high technical performance. The CIRCLE project, supported by Carnot MICA, offers an innovative solution to these challenges: recycling thermoplastic composites for the production of high-performance, sustainable marine structures.
Recycling to Innovate: A Technology Serving Performance
Fiber-reinforced composites (glass, carbon, plant-based) are essential in the construction of racing yachts, providing fatigue resistance and an excellent stiffness-to-weight ratio. However, recycling them remains a major challenge.
The CIRCLE project has demonstrated that it is possible to recycle a polyamide composite reinforced with glass fibers (PA6/GF) thanks to the Thermosaïc® process developed by Cetim. This technology makes it possible to convert thermoplastic composite waste (production scraps and end-of-life products) into semi-finished products (panels), which can then be machined, overmolded, or thermoformed.
Enhanced Performance for Real-World Applications
The innovation also relies on Automated Fiber Placement (AFP), mastered by UBSIDE, which involves precisely depositing thermoplastic composite tapes onto recycled panels to locally improve rigidity and strength. The results are compelling: by adding just 20% of PA6/CF tapes to panels obtained through the Thermosaïc® process, the mechanical performance of recycled composites was significantly improved, with a 50% increase in tensile and flexural strength.
A Sustainable Solution for the Boating Industry
The demonstrators developed as part of the CIRCLE project show that recycling thermoplastic composites is a technically viable solution for the boating industry. Beyond this market, these advances are also relevant to aerospace, automotive, and renewable energy sectors, where lightweight structures and lifecycle management of materials are key challenges.
UBSIDE: Your Partner for Sustainable Innovation
UBSIDE supports companies in their innovation projects by providing advanced technologies and cutting-edge expertise. Through the CIRCLE project, UBSIDE offers stakeholders in the marine industry a unique opportunity to contribute to the transition toward a more sustainable model by integrating high-performance recycled materials into their manufacturing processes.
