Carbon Fiber Recycling LLC and James Cropper Advanced Materials have been shortlisted for the CAMX 2026 Unsurpassed Innovation Award for UNIMAT, an aligned nonwoven material made from recycled carbon fiber. CFR operates a continuous-flow recycling plant in Tazewell, Tennessee, that recovers fiber from prepreg and cured composite waste. James Cropper then uses VECTIS alignment technology to turn that recovered fiber into a structural-grade material for demanding composite applications. The companies say the process delivers more than 99% CO2 reduction compared with virgin PAN carbon fiber production, at lower cost. Recycled fiber from the same facility is also used in concrete crack control, milled compounds, coatings, and 3D printing. The shortlist matters because it signals that recycled carbon fiber can be treated as a specification material rather than a downcycled product, with potential implications for embodied carbon in manufacturing and construction.
