Recycled carbon fiber Market is predicted to reach USD 13,129.5 million at a CAGR of 12.77% during the forecast period

Pune, India, Sep 2022, MRFR Press Release/Market Research Future has published a Cooked Research Report on the Global Recycled carbon fiber Market.

Market Synopsis

The global Recycled carbon fiber market was valued at USD  13,129.5 million in 2021 and is projected to reach USD  36,733.9 million by 2030 at a CAGR of 12.77%.

Recycled carbon fiber is sourced from waste carbon fiber generated as a result of the processing of thermoset carbon fiber-reinforced composites and various dry fiber and prepreg scrap sources. Around 30% of carbon fiber produced ends up as waste during the production of carbon fiber-based end products. Recycled carbon fibers exhibit similar properties as virgin carbon fiber, including high tensile strength, resistance to chemicals, low thermal expansion, and lightweight.

The global recycled carbon fiber market is projected to register a significant growth rate during the review period. This growth is attributed to the increasing demand for recycled carbon fiber in various end-use industries, particularly automotive and aerospace and defense. Additionally, increasing focus on environment safeguarding by waste reduction and growing demand for cost-effective and high-performance materials is likely to propel the market growth at a significant rate.

Competitive Landscape

The competitive landscape offers an analysis of the key strategies undertaken by the companies between 2015 and 2020 operating in the global market. The global market for recycled carbon fiber is projected to witness healthy growth during the forecast period, owing to the rising demand for lightweight materials in the aerospace and defense and automotive industries. The high growth is also attributed to the high performance and cost-effectiveness of carbon fiber.

SGL Carbon (Germany), Sigmatex (UK), Teijin Limited (Japan), ZOLTEK Corporation (US), and ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd (UK) are the prominent players operating in the global recycled carbon fiber market. These players account for most of the global market share owing to their large production capabilities, global revenue base, wide product portfolio, and global distribution & sales network. Additionally, the aggressive adoption of various strategies such as expansions, agreements, product launches, and acquisitions are expected to help these players gain maximum revenue and long-term growth during the review period.

Segmentation

By Type

• Non-Oven Mats: The non-woven mats are widely used in the manufacture of sheet molded components for the automotive industry. The demand for this material is expected to increase significantly, owing to the rising need for cost-effective alternatives to virgin carbon fiber for vehicle light-weighting by OEMs in the transportation sector. In addition, these mats are applicable in intermediate products such as prepregs and sheet molding compounds for composite manufacturing and interlaminar layers for sports goods such as boards. They can be used with thermoset and thermoplastic matrix systems.


• Milled carbon fiber: Milled carbon fibers are short strand-length (100µm) fibrous powders manufactured from recycled carbon fiber. Milled carbon fibers are added to thermoplastics (such as Nylon) for injection molding applications as well as to thermoset resins (such as epoxy, polyurethane, and polyester resin) for cold casting or vacuum casting. These fibers help to improve mechanical properties (tensile strength and modulus), dimensional stability, and electrical/electrostatic conductivity.


• Chopped carbon fiber: The oversized & chopped carbon fibers are mainly used as reinforcing material in thermoplastics and aids in enhancing the conductivity of the plastics. The chopped fibers are available in various sizes and cut lengths and possess excellent thermal and chemical properties, owing to which they are used as a functional additive in the manufacture of compounds for thermoplastic injection molding compounds in various temperature ranges.

By End-Use Industry

• Automotive: The automotive industry is the largest consumer of recycled carbon fibers, wherein these fibers find use in numerous applications, including battery boxes, compression molding processes for interior and exterior parts of automobiles. The increasing demand for lightweight and environment-friendly materials as a result of increasing environmental regulations by the regulatory agencies such as the European Union (EU) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce carbon emissions is fueling the demand for recycled carbon fibers.


• Consumer goods and elctronics: The consumer goods and electronics segment held the second-largest share of the market and is projected to be a lucrative market in the years to follow. Recycled carbon fibers are used to provide electrical conductivity/antistatic properties in polymer compounds and coatings in the microelectronics products. The addition of carbon fibers resins by 10-60% helps to reduce the weight of plastic parts or to reduce their thickness because of its superior mechanical performances.


• Industrial: The industrial applications cover the use of recycled carbon fibers in the oil and gas industry for the manufacture of deep-sea oil and gas exploration products and the manufacture of pressure vessels. These fibers possess excellent mechanical properties as the virgin fiber and have minimal thermal expansion owing to which they are largely used in the oil & gas offshore drilling activities.


• Aerospace and Defense: Recycled carbon fibers, as compared to virgin carbon fibers, have limited applications in the aerospace industry. However, it is used in the manufacture of aerospace components, which require less tensile strength, such as secondary structure components and interior components.


• Sporting Goods: The sporting goods segment covers the use of recycled carbon fiber in various sporting good applications such as fishing rods, reels, golf club shafts, club heads, face plate, bicycle rims, baseball bats, yachts, sail boats, sail masts, athletic rowing boats, and canoes.


• Wind Energy: The recycled carbon fiber-based composites are used on a smaller scale in the wind turbines. Recycled carbon fiber composite-based functional components are used in wind turbine generators. Moreover, due to increasing energy demand and better cost efficiency (cost of energy), wind turbines are being constructed with increasingly large rotor diameters.


• Others: The others segment consists of various applications such as medical, coatings, energy storage, and construction.

By Region

• North America: North America accounted for a second largest market share followed by Asia-Pacific in 2021. The North American market has been divided into the US and Canada.


• Europe The European market has been segmented into Germany, Russia, Italy, France, the UK, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the rest of Europe. Europe accounted the third largest market share in 2021.


• Asia Pacific: Asia-Pacific has accounted the largest market share. The Asia Pacific region offers huge growth potential for Recycled carbon fiber market


• Latin America: The Latin American market is divided into Brazil, Peru, and Argentina are the major contributors in the region.


• Middle East & Africa: In Middle East & Africa UAE is the leading country in the region followed by Turkey and Egypt.