Composites UK has named Sigmatex winner of its 2017 Environmental/Sustainability Award for its work to reduce the amount of carbon fibre waste generated in-house and successfully developing a recycled product which utilises the existing waste stream. Within its in-house manufacturing processes Sigmatex generates significant quantities of carbon fibre waste across its four manufacturing sites each year. Historically, this waste has been sent to landfill at an ever-rising cost to the business and the environment. Sigmatex says it has developed a means to capture the waste in a form suitable for conversion, whilst maintaining the primary benefits of carbon fibre. The product, sigmaRF, was launched last year and has since received further investment from the company, becoming one of the key components within Sigmatex portfolio. sigmaRF is reported to be suitable for many applications which currently use virgin carbon fibre thermoplastic materials and is said to be especially applicable to the automotive, sports and leisure, medical and energy sectors.
