17/08/2020
Deakin University researchers create recycled carbon fibre surfboard start-up as solution to landfill problem
Carbon fibre has revolutionised design in many industries, with its lightweight and flexible structure helping improve the performance of aircraft, cars, tennis racquets and wind turbines.
Key points:
Carbon fibre has allowed manufacturers to create fuel-efficient lightweight products but a lot ends up in land fill
A surfer says the lighter carbon fibre board is faster and will be 'absolutely awesome'
Aside from surfboards, researchers are working on reusing carbon fibre in car parts and cement
But it also holds a dirty secret: up to 95 per cent of carbon fibre ends up in landfill.
That's about 45,000 tonnes, or the equivalent of four Eiffel Towers worth of material each year.
Because it's not biodegradable and can't be melted down and reused, carbon fibre simply sits in landfill forever.
But in recent years, there's been a push to come up with innovative ways to recycle this valuable material.
It's what prompted aerospace engineers Dr Filip Stojcevski and Andreas Hendlmeier, along with organic chemist James Randall, to come up with a side project that combined their knowledge of carbon fibre manufacturing, electrochemistry and material interfaces with their love of surfing.
