According to an article in Composites Manufacturing, Arlington, Virginia, a recycling process developed by Carbon Conversions, Lake City, South Carolina, was featured on the Science Channel series Made by Destruction June 13, 2016.
The process recycles the carbon fiber used to manufacture certain bicycle frames into Formula 1 race cars. The episode details how the bikes are divided into their component parts and put through a rotary chopper. The resultant pieces are fed into a furnace until only the carbon fibers remain.
“If the temperature is too cool, the fiber won’t separate from the paint and glue,” the episode narrator says. “Too hot, and you end up with a pile of unusable ash. It took multiple trials to fine-tune the temperature to a thermal sweet spot, and it’s a closely guarded secret.”
The carbon filaments are then bonded and shipped to Crawford Composites, Denver, North Carolina, where they are molded into the body of a race car and heated in an autoclave for six hours.
The full episode is available here.
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