Towards sustainable structural composites: A review on the recycling of continuous-fiber-reinforced thermoplastics

In the last years, continuous-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites (CFRTCs) received an increasing interest for their potential advantages over composites with thermosetting resin mainly in terms of i) shorter manufacturing cycles ii) higher impact resistance and toughness and iii) recyclability at the end of first life. The main strategies for recycling CFRTCs are here reviewed on the basis of the information available in the scientific literature. The main recycling options currently available for CFRTCs can be broadly divided into mechanical, thermal and chemical methodologies. Moreover, the concept of all-polymer composites, i.e. composites in which both matrix and reinforcing components are made with thermoplastic polymers, is discussed in view of their relevance in recycling technology. © 2021 Kingfa Scientific and Technological Co. Ltd. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAiCommunications Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).