Resilient carbon fiber–reinforced polymers, or CFRPs, perform well in many useful applications, including aircraft, shipping containers, natural gas storage tanks, wind turbines and sporting goods. The problem is manufacturing the polymers is expensive and produces greenhouse gas emissions that have negative environmental impacts. Now a new method using acetic acid to break down polymers looks like it can help alleviate that threat and enable safer recycling of these materials. Bhavik Bakshi, a chemical and biomolecular engineer and professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Fulton Schools, agrees this method makes CFRP recycling easier but says other recycling methods being developed might be more effective.