Neil Conley, a Coroflot member and a 3-D design graduate of Northumbria University, has developed a sustainable carbon fiber composite, entitled “X Endless.” The project relies on a recent development in composite recycling: a specific pyrolysis method that unwinds the carbon fibers from the composites that bind them, allowing them to be re-used.

This method has allowed Neil to mine unlocked carbon fibers from obsolete aircraft and mix them with a bio-resin derived from plant oils to create a new carbon-fiber composite that can reduce and prevent carbon fiber waste.

The material is demonstrated in a series of two cremation urns that “aim to demonstrate not only the endlessly recyclable potential of the material, but also how relevant material sourcing can re-inject relevance to objects of narrative and poetry.” They represent both “a carbon cycle for the wider carbon cycle” and the mining of aircraft material from their graveyards, where they would otherwise lie unused.

We love this project not only for its impressive level of execution, but also for its excellent demonstration of composite recycling, creating a workable, beautiful material (none of these images are renderings) with many applications. We wonder how the use of bio-resin and recaptured carbon would affect the price of carbon-composite; maybe we’ll start seeing it around more. According to Neil, he’s already in talks with a Formula 1 and an aerospace manufacturer, so we may not have to wait too long.

See his sketches below or at his awesome portfolio on Coroflot.