PORT ANGELES — Five times stronger than steel, lightweight carbon fiber is a “miraculous space-age material” that could transform industry in Port Angeles, Composite Recycling Technology Center CEO Bob Larsen said Wednesday.
Larsen gave an update on the latest plans and early accomplishments of the 8-month-old CRTC at the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
When production begins Oct. 1, the start-up nonprofit will turn recycled carbon-fiber composite scraps into new materials in a Port of Port Angeles-owned building at William R. Fairchild International Airport, he said.
“Our mission is to develop products to realize the potential of carbon fiber,” Larsen told about 60 chamber members at the Elwha Klallam Heritage Center in Port Angeles.
“We are the first company in the world to actually go down this path.”
The hourlong talk was the latest in a series of presentations that Larsen described as a “coming-out party” for the recycling center.
“There is a lot of interest and belief in the industry itself, and this is a big opportunity,” Larsen said.
“I believe what we’re doing here is going to be replicated not only around the country but around the world, and we intend to be at the leading edge of that.”
Gov. Jay Inslee and other dignitaries attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the publicly funded CRTC last September.
Last month, officials announced that Toray Composites of America will provide a supply of carbon-fiber scrap to the center.
“They are the sole supplier for the structural material that Boeing is using for the 787,” Larsen said of Toray Composites.
CRTC is scheduled to move into its 25,000-square-foot building July 5 with eight employees.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for the first half of August.
Production will commence with 12 employees in October, Larsen said.
“By the end of next year, we’re going to achieve financial stability and independence,” said Larsen, who has been working for free and serves on a five-member CRTC board.
“We’re on track to have about 25 people working by the end of 2017.”
“The following two years is a big expansion,” Larsen added.
“This is when we’ll really start ramping up the volume of material we can accept and transform. And as we do that, we’ll be able to spin off new products, start up new companies, new joint ventures, and generally build the business.”
Around 2020, CRTC will have the equipment to make carbon-fiber material that can be sold to other companies.
Citing market competition, CRTC officials have not disclosed the first products that will be produced.
“This material is so good, we believe we can bring products to market that are superior in their technical characteristics that are going to be lighter and stronger and have unique attributes to them,” Larsen said.
“And we can do them cheaper than anybody else.”
Examples of the types of products that can be made from recycled carbon-fiber scrap include solar panel frames, computer cases, ski poles and snowboards.
Reprocessed carbon fiber retains about 90 percent of its original strength and can be molded into “almost anything you want,” Larsen said.
Every pound of carbon fiber recycled saves 78 kilowatt hours of electricity, Larsen said.
“And, of course, we’re taking things out of the landfills,” he added.
The shell of the CRTC building cost $1.5 million to construct in 2010-11 with mostly port and some city of Port Angeles funds.
To complete the once-dirt-floor building, the port obtained $4 million in grants from Clallam County, the state’s Clean Energy Fund and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.
The port also provided a $1.9 million match to a state grant for CRTC equipment and services, according to Larsen’s slide presentation.
Larsen said the state “had a problem with their evaluation of these grants” and asked the recipients to reapply.
“We’re still confident we’re going to get funding, but it’s going to be about four months later than we thought,” Larsen said.
“But not to worry. We figured out a way to make lemonade from lemons, and we’re going to go down a slightly different path that will actually allow us to start production on time.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
