Sigmatex wins Jaguar Land Rover Innovation Award

As a leading independent converter of carbon fiber, Sigmatex (UK) Ltd. (Runcorn, Cheshire, UK) continually strives to develop new and innovative products to meet the demanding needs of the composites industry, particularly across the automotive, aerospace and marine sectors. Sigmatex just received the JLR Innovation Award, presented on behalf of the Northern Automotive Alliance at their annual awards dinner on November 12.

The award was presented for Sigmatex’s continued technical innovation, this time for its efforts in developing a new recycled carbon fiber textile, which provides the ability to reformat all of its production waste stream. “To be recognized for the Jaguar Land Rover Innovation Award is a huge achievement which we’re very proud of. The award further acknowledges our commitment to addressing an industry-wide issue and supports our innovative nature to develop cutting edge textiles for our customers,” says Paul McMullan, global commercial manager for Sigmatex.

With the carbon fiber market currently producing more than 60,000 tonnes each year, it’s estimated that at least 30% is classified as waste product and is sent to landfill. This, combined with an anticipated increase in demand for carbon fiber over the coming years will be detrimental for the environment. Recognizing the need to address this industry-wide challenge, Sigmatex have focused its efforts on developing a recycled product that utilizes its production waste stream.

sigmaRF is a thermoplastic/carbon fiber hybrid material that can be press-formed into a finished product. Successfully developing this product has enabled Sigmatex to convert a significant proportion of its waste in the past 12 months. “Since the launch of sigmaRF we’ve received a host of interest which extends across the automotive, sports and leisure sectors and it is our intention to continue to promote this technology across our customer platforms with extra focus on the automotive industry. The demand for both recycled materials and thermoplastic composites is growing significantly so we expect a very bright future for sigmaRF,” adds McMullan.