Life Cycle Assessment of Glass Fibre Recovery from Waste Composites Using Pressolysis

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Science
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Growing demand for sustainable composite recycling necessitates innovative methods.
• Waste composites, especially from wind turbine blades, pose a significant disposal challenge.
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is crucial for evaluating the environmental footprint of recycling processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the LCA of the pressolysis process for recycling glass fibres from waste composites.
• To compare the environmental impact of different pressolysis process scenarios (batch, semi-continuous with heat recovery, scaled-up).
• To determine the potential of pressolysis in contributing to a circular economy for composite materials.

Main Methods:

• The study employed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to quantify environmental impacts.
• Three pressolysis process scenarios were assessed: batch, semi-continuous with heat recovery, and scaled-up.
• Global Warming Potential (GWP) was a key metric for environmental impact evaluation.

Main Results:

• Scaling up the pressolysis process drastically reduces Global Warming Potential (GWP).
• GWP decreased from 95 kg CO₂ eq/kg recovered fibre (batch) to 2 kg CO₂ eq/kg (scaled-up).
• Increasing equipment capacity was the most effective strategy for impact reduction, achieving a 98% decrease.

Conclusions:

• The scaled-up pressolysis process offers a sustainable solution for glass fibre recycling from composite waste.
• Its environmental impact is comparable to virgin material production and other recycling methods like pyrolysis and solvolysis.
• Pressolysis viability supports a circular economy by minimizing landfill reliance and virgin material consumption.