Mitsubishi Chemical to acquire European carbon fibre recycling companies

Photo Credit: Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.

As a part of its efforts to promote the circular economy, Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC) plans to acquire two German carbon fibre recycling companies – CFK Valley Stade Recycling GmbH & Co. KG (CFK) and carboNXT GmbH – through its subsidiary Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials in Zurich, Switzerland.

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The acquisition is slated for completion around early August.

CFK has its own network to collect leftover materials generated during the molding of intermediate materials such as carbon fiber prepreg, mainly from customers in mobility-related industries, and also draws on its advanced proprietary technology to recycle these materials into usable forms of carbon fibre. In turn, carboNXT sells these CFK-recycled products.

MCC has also acquired c-m-p GmbH3, a carbon fibre prepreg manufacturer, as well as the Minger Group4 of engineering plastics recycling companies. With the latest acquisition, MCC will establish a chain from the manufacture of carbon fibres and carbon fibre composites to collection and recycling of products, in Europe, following Japan, where the chain has already been established.