Process-based life cycle assessment of thermoplastic composite components manufacturing for automotive applications

Thermoplastic-based composite materials are increasingly attractive for lightweight structural applications because of their favourable properties and their inherently higher recyclability compared to traditional thermoset composites. However, the real environmental advantages of these materials depend strongly on how production scrap is handled and valorised. This study examines the manufacturing of a Polypropylene/Glass Fibre Reinforced (PP/GF) automotive bracket and compares three strategies for managing out‑of‑figure scrap: landfill disposal, closed-loop recycling into new composite plates, and open-loop recycling into filament for additive manufacturing. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was carried out using SimaPro v9.5 and the Ecoinvent v3.9 database, supported by primary data collected at the industrial facility. The functional unit is one lightweight automotive bracket, and the system boundary is cradle‑to‑gate, covering raw material production, impregnation, cutting, heating, thermoforming, robotic trimming, and scrap treatment processes. To assess the influence of energy sources on recycling performance, two electricity mixes (Italy and Norway) were evaluated. The environmental benefits of lightweight components in automotive applications were also quantified. Results show that combining LCA with detailed production data provides meaningful insights for circularity in automotive composites, underscoring the need for advanced recycling solutions and reliance on renewable energy to support SDG 9 and SDG 12.