James Cropper and Hexcel collaborate to advance aligned composite recycling

ECCA, an initiative led by the European Composites Industry Association (EUCIA), brings together material producers, end users, recyclers, and part manufacturers to address the structural challenges that limit composite recycling. One of its key focus areas is carbon fibre recycling within aerospace and defence, where material performance and fibre utilisation are critical. Within aerospace and defence in particular, ECCA focuses on materials manufactured from recovered or recycled carbon fibre, where performance and fibre utilisation are essential to enabling circularity at scale.

The collaboration between James Cropper and Hexcel centres on the use of Unimat, enabled by James Cropper’s Vectis aligned fibre technology, as a practical model for how recycled carbon fibre materials can achieve the alignment and fibre volume fractions needed to compete in demanding composite applications. The objective is not alignment alone, but the development of enhanced, high-value recovery composite materials made from recycled carbon fibre that deliver meaningful structural performance.

Within ECCA, a core focus is the advancement of composite materials derived from recycled fibre for aerospace and defence applications, where performance, processability and material utilisation are closely linked to deliver best value recovery solutions.

David Tilbrook, senior technical fellow at Hexcel, and chair of the Aerospace and Defence Working Group for ECCA, said: “For aerospace applications, improved fibre alignment supports stiffness-driven designs core to lightweighting and fuel burn reduction. Fuel accounts for over 90% of an aircraft’s lifetime emissions and up to 30% of airline operating costs and so weight reduction is a key environmental and economic driver. Increasing the value of composites using recycled fibres like this addresses exactly the kind of challenge ECCA aims to solve by promoting industry-wide collaboration.”

Andy Walton, managing director for advanced materials at James Cropper, added: “ECCA provides the framework for industry-wide collaboration, and working with Hexcel within that framework allows us to accelerate learning and development in a way that benefits the wider composites ecosystem. Our new Unimat range shows what can be achieved when recycled carbon fibre, alignment, fibre volume, and industrial scalability are addressed together. That is the challenge ECCA exists to solve, and this collaboration brings that ambition into practice.”

Products developed through this collaborative work are being showcased on both companies’ stands at JEC World.

About James Cropper Advanced Materials 
James Cropper Advanced Materials works at the edge of material science, creating future focused solutions across a broad portfolio of products. From ultra-fine glass non-wovens found on most commercial aircraft, to electrochemical coatings supporting the generation of green hydrogen using PEM electrolysers. James Cropper specialises in providing innovative solutions for current and next-generation technologies. 

About Hexcel
Hexcel Corporation is a global leader in advanced lightweight composites technology. The company provides innovative, high-performance material solutions that are lighter, stronger and tougher, shaping a world that moves farther, smarter and more efficiently. Its broad and unrivalled product range includes carbon fibre, specialty reinforcements, prepregs and other fibre-reinforced matrix materials, honeycomb, resins, engineered core, and composite structures for use in commercial aerospace, defence and space, and industrial applications.

James Cropper is exhibiting at JEC World 2026, in Hall 5, booth N40.

Hexcel is exhibiting at JEC World 2026, in Hall 5, booth H57.

Cover photo: James Cropper