Fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) are gaining popularity in several fields such as renewable energy, automotive, aerospace and defense. It is estimated that by 2028, the global composite material market value is expected to become $144.5 bn. Most of the demand would come out of automotive and renewable energy sector.

An increased demand means high rate of production which leads to an increase in the amount of waste produced. Traditionally, industries have resorted to incineration and landfilling, primarily due to the lack of alternatives. Governments have identified environmental concerns stemming out of such practices and are enforcing legislations to tackle this issue.

Jeosal Materials Research Corporation, a startup based out of Canada and the Winners of Recycling Technology category of the Circular Economy Challenge 2022, are changing the way FRP waste is handled. They have developed a sustainable recycling process which doesn’t require any chemicals or additives in their proprietary process. In our discussion with founder and CEO, Osayuki Osazuwa we discovered how they are handling FRP waste with their proprietary recycling process technology

Identifying the problem

There are about 6 million recreational ships/vessels in Canada. A study conducted on ship recycling in Canada, indicated that about 43,000 ships reach their end of life every year. Most of the ships are built from fiberglass and subsequently end up in landfills.

"In Canada, we are facing a big issue due to small and mid-sized regional boats. When they reach the end of their life, their owners become tired of them and simply abandon them in landfills. We decided to focus on this problem, and I submitted a research proposal to Queens University. Our proposal was accepted, and we signed a two-year contract for prototype development," started Osayuki.

There is an urgent requirement for handling the end-of-life waste and current FRP recycling processes are quite expensive and energy intensive. Jeosal identified this issue and successfully developed a fast, low cost, low energy and chemical free FRP recycling process that extracts fibers with an extremely high reuse value.

Process highlights

Their patented recycling process takes advantage of the weakest links in fiber matrix- the interfaces in the structure of fibers. The process disrupts these links by compromising its structural integrity in low heat environment, leaving behind undamaged fibers.

"Our process requires 10% less energy compared to our closest competitors. This significantly reduces total costs. The cycle time for our recycling process takes minutes, as opposed to hours for our competitors. To top it off, our process is zero-waste by recycling 100% of the end-of-life material," elaborated Osayuki.

Applications

The recovered fibers are high in quality and can be reused in diverse industries. They can be potentially repurposed for new applications in areas such as aerospace, wind energy, automotive and sporting goods. The startup has successfully recovered glass fibers from marine vessels and wind turbine blades and carbon fiber from automotive interior panel (from carbon-fiber reinforced polymer).

Apart from the traditional applications for recovered fibers, Jeosal has designed a business model with specially modified and enhanced recovered fibers with unusual end applications. One such application is the development of adsorbent porous carbon for use in gas-separation membranes, air purification and wastewater treatment. "Porous carbon has good adsorption properties, and this makes it quite suitable for chemical and physical filtration. It is also a very effective thermal and electrical conductor. These properties make it suitable for use in advanced battery systems," added Osayuki.

Another potential application for porous carbon is in gas separation technology. Several industries can employ the technology to separate carbon dioxide, biogas, and hydrogen. Conventional gas separation membranes use a lot of energy, producing high levels of CO2 emissions. Replacing these membranes with thin, porous carbon membranes would make the process energy lean and environmentally friendly.

"The bottom line is that our recycling technology can be adapted to serve various unapparent applications. With a process that isn’t hampered by ambient climatic conditions, it is possible to recover end of life fibers all year long. Our mission is to solve problems associated with single use plastics with our ecologically and socially responsible process," concluded Osayuki.