Paris, 13 November 2024 – Expleo, a global engineering, technology and consulting services provider, is delighted to have been awarded the ‘Research & Development’ prize at the Toulouse Aeroforum organised by La Tribune for its carbon fibre composite material recycling process. This award underlines Expleo’s ongoing commitment to promoting excellence and innovation to reduce the environmental impact of industrial activities in the aeronautical industry and beyond.
The 11th Aeroforum organised by La Tribune was held on 7 November 2024, with the theme of: ‘The aeronautical industry in battle order to meet XXL challenges’. More than 400 industry players were in attendance as Expleo was awarded a prize in the ‘Research and Development’ category for its composite material recycling process, developed by Expleo’s teams and now being pursued by Louis Meunier, PhD in Polymer and Composite Chemistry and Processing.
This innovative, low-environmental-impact chemical process, based on mild solvolysis and developed in partnership with CNRS researchers and CIRIMAT, makes it possible to separate the fibres and resin from carbon fibre composites so that they can be recycled. The pre-industrialisation of this process is currently being closely watched by the aeronautical industry and could be applied to a number of other sectors such as the automotive and transport industries.
Louis Meunier, PhD in Polymer and Composite Chemistry and Processing at Expleo, comments: “Receiving this award is a wonderful recognition of the efforts and collective passion that drives our team at Expleo to innovate in the field of eco-responsibility, and in a sector that is constantly reinventing itself to meet environmental challenges. Above all, this patented process will enable us to accelerate its pre-industrialisation and make it usable on a large scale.”
