CEAMS wins national Sustainability and Circularity Award 2026

The Centre of Expertise in Advanced Materials and Sustainability (CEAMS), alongside partners Cygnet Texkimp, SHD Composites, NCC and Teledyne CML Composites, has won the Sustainability and Circularity Award at the Composites UK Industry Awards.

The award recognises a groundbreaking project that addressed one of the composites industry's biggest circularity challenges: retaining the value of carbon fibre waste by enabling it to be reused in high-performance applications.

Building on three years of innovation through the CEAMS programme, the project partners demonstrated a world-first achievement. Using recovered continuous carbon fibre, the team successfully produced a prepreg material made from 100% recycled carbon fibre and used it to manufacture an aerospace component demonstrator.

The project saw Cygnet Texkimp recover continuous carbon fibre from composite waste using its DEECOM® process, preserving the fibre's high-performance characteristics. SHD Composites then converted the recycled fibre into industrial-scale prepreg material before NCC and Teledyne CML Composites manufactured an aircraft access panel using established aerospace manufacturing processes.

Testing showed that laminates produced using the recycled prepreg achieved stiffness and strength comparable to equivalent virgin carbon fibre systems. Fibre-level testing also demonstrated no reduction in strength or stiffness compared with virgin fibre.

Crucially, the project demonstrated that recycled carbon fibre can be integrated into existing aerospace manufacturing routes without fundamental changes to production processes, creating a credible pathway towards large-scale industrial adoption.

The environmental impact is equally significant. Previous CEAMS research estimated that recycled continuous carbon fibre can have a carbon footprint of approximately 5 kg CO₂e per kilogram, compared with 25-30 kg CO₂e per kilogram for virgin fibre, representing a potential reduction of up to 80%.

By creating a higher-value destination for composite waste, the project supports both a more circular economy and more resilient UK carbon fibre supply chains.

To find out more about the award and CEAMS' award-winning work in sustainability and circularity, visit the Composites UK Industry Awards website or read the full winning case study.