The use of carbon fibre in cars could be restricted or even banned if European Union legislators have their way.

The 'end-of-life' (ELV) directive is currently undergoing revisions, as lawmakers aren't happy about the way carbon fibre doesn't fit into the regulations that require new cars to be made with a minimum of 85 per cent reusable or recoverable materials.

Carbon fibre has long been used because it's lightweight, highly durable and strong, thusly perfect for high-performance sports car and motorsport bodywork and components. Though it’s been considered environmentally friendly thanks to a longer life span than metal vehicles, it takes 14 times more energy to make compared with steel, according to researchers at the Centre for Corrosion Research in Malaysia. Plus, recycling or recovering it is problematic.

Scrap carbon fibre can’t be melted down and reformed like metals. Composite carbon fibre is most widely recycled via thermal pyrolysis (heating it up to 700°C), but this recovers only 93 per cent of the material, and releases several hazardous gases at the same time. Oh dear.

CF can be mechanically shredded, a process which doesn’t release said gases, but only virgin offcuts and other uncontaminated bits can be recycled this way. Chemically? Guess how planet-friendly that approach is. Long story short, carbon fibre is recovered and reused in far smaller quantities, and it's this which has the EU all twitchy.

Carbon fibre isn’t the only material being excluded in the directive revisions. Cadium, hexavalent chromium (yeah, the poisonous stuff in Erin Brocovich), lead and mercury are on the naughty list, too. Carbon fibre will likely have the most impact on the car industry, though.

If the draft legislation makes it into the final revisions of the directive, a ban or restriction on carbon fibre would put a pretty serious dent in carmakers' and suppliers' future plans. And while saying goodbye to those garish aftermarket body kits isn't a totally horrible vision, there are folks' jobs to consider.

The directive states there would be exemptions, though it's not clear how these would be applied, and according to its own rules, carmakers will get 18 months' head-up if the rules do change. It's also worth noting that even if the EU changes the rules, there's nothing to say the UK will follow suit. More as we get it.

Content published on 22nd May 2021

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