For the upcoming Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the front wing flaps on the VCARB01 cars raced by Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo have been manufactured using moulds produced from recycled carbon fibre.
A cutting-edge project is underway to use recycled carbon fibre in the manufacturing process of the VCARB F1 car. A successful start to the project will open the doors to a collaboration that will see Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team send end-of-life materials to Herambiente, to be worked on in an innovative plant currently under construction in Imola. It is one of the first in Europe capable of recycling carbon composite material.
In the heart of Motor Valley, a stone’s throw from the Imola circuit, a pioneering partnership aimed at ecological transition is underway between the Visa Cash App RB Formula One team and the Hera Group. It has the ambitious goal of creating an ever more sustainable race car using recycled and regenerated carbon fibre inside the manufacturing procedures, using an innovative process in a plant due to start up in Imola in the coming months. Recovering precious carbon fibre will have positive repercussions in terms of sustainability and recycling, giving this composite material, so important to motorsport, a second life. Once this partnership is fully up and running, up to the equivalent of 150 tons of CO2 can be saved per year, a saving equal to planting 4000 trees.
The agreement with the Hera Group means that a significant amount of carbon fibre that would normally be disposed of will now be recovered while also generating valuable know-how for this type of composite material and deliver environmental and economic benefits, with the possibility of future use in the motorsport and automotive sectors.
VCARB’s carbon fibre recycling journey
Around 50% of the carbon fibre brought in every year for the production of our Formula 1 cars is used to produce moulds and tools for laminating car components. The use of recycled carbon fibre in this part of the production process has a significant impact in reducing emissions, while ensuring the performance and quality of the components. The technical partnership with Herambiente has resulted in moulds and obsolete components which would have been scrapped, going to recycling instead.
Following a process of pyro-gassification and processing for the production of prepreg, our fibre is returned to the Faenza factory where our workforce uses it to produce the mould for components used on Yuki’s and Daniel’s cars. These use 85% recycled carbon fibre, leading to an 83% reduction in emissions. Once fully operational, the production process for moulds and tools could lead to an annual reduction in emissions of around 150 tonnes of CO2.
“The carbon fibre recycling project developed by Herambiente is a perfect fit with the aims of VCARB and the Red Bull GmbH group aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in the Formula 1 World Championship,” said Enrico Fastelli, Visa Cash App RB’s Facility Management and HSE Director. The promotion of the circular economy and local projects, along with the development of new technologies that make motorsport increasingly sustainable and respectful towards the environment, are all part of a raft of activities that VCARB is approaching with a holistic vision aimed at grasping every opportunity to tackle the global challenge of climate change.”
“The partnership with Visa Cash App RB is totally in line with our aims of decarbonisation and development of a circular economy,” commented Andrea Ramonda, CEO of Herambiente. “It has a strategic value with a view to promoting short and circular chains in Italy (reshoring) and the rest of Europe. Regenerating carbon fibre is a pioneering project which requires good teamwork, with each partner bringing its resources and skills, with the common goal of generating environmental, economic and social benefits.”
HERA Group
The Hera Group is one of the largest Italian multi-utilities and operates in the environment, energy and water sectors, with around 10,000 employees, committed every day to responding to the multiple needs of around 5 million citizens located mainly in Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Marche, Tuscany and Abruzzo. Listed since 2003, it is among the top 40 Italian companies by capitalization (it is part of the Ftse Mib index) and since 2020 it has entered the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, World and Europe.
For more information: www.gruppohera.it
