Engineering experts from Brunel University London were honored with the Wild Card award at The Engineer Magazine’s Collaborate to Innovate Awards (C2I) on February 29. This recognition was for their collaboration with industry on the EMPHASIZING project, which aims to recycle glass fibers sustainably and cost-effectively for future vehicle production.
Now in its eighth year, the C2I Awards celebrate the UK’s most innovative collaborative engineering projects, showcasing how engineers are leveraging their expertise and emerging technologies to tackle global challenges. The awards underscore the significance of the circular economy, which emphasizes extending material life through reuse and recycling to minimize waste.
The Brunel Composites Centre (BCC), a research hub in Brunel’s College of Engineering, Design, and Physical Sciences, played a key role in the award-winning project. Some team members attended the awards ceremony at the Institution of Civil Engineers in Westminster.
BCC’s researchers specialize in translating academic knowledge on composite materials—materials comprising two or more substances with distinct chemical properties—into practical applications for industries like automotive, aerospace, and oil and gas.
The EMPHASIZING project, launched in 2022, involves partners such as Ford UK, B&M Longworth, Gestamp, Gen 2 Plank Ltd, TWI, and EMS Grivory. It focuses on recycling glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP), a material predominantly disposed of in landfills or incinerated.
Dr. Nithin Jayasree, a senior research fellow and team leader at BCC, highlighted the project’s goal of cost-effectively and environmentally responsibly recycling GFRP. He emphasized the urgency, given the projected increase in GFRP waste, particularly from decommissioned composite wind blade material in the wind energy sector.
The project aims to develop a method for recycling and repurposing these waste materials for automotive applications. Using an emerging recycling technology called DEECOM®, the team recovers high-quality, clean glass fibers, free from residues, which are then processed into a new advanced material called glassene. This material offers enhanced performance properties compared to glass, at a similar cost.
The C2I award follows the project’s recognition with the Circularity and Recycling Award at the JEC Composites Innovation Awards. These accolades underscore the project’s innovative approach and its potential to revolutionize composite recycling and sustainability in industries like automotive.
Brunel University highly values its industry partnerships, and BCC is proud to contribute its research and expertise to projects like EMPHASIZING. Dr. Jayasree emphasized the project’s commitment to environmental protection, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness, highlighting the potential of glassene to drive a sustainable future for composites in automotive applications.
