The rPET honeycomb cores are made up of 100% recycled material, predominantly sourced from non-food postconsumer and industrial polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste streams.
Formula Electric Belgium is using the material in the race car front wings, along with a skin made out of natural flax fiber, the company said. This replaces a carbon fiber skin and aluminium stiff-eners used in a previous version of the car and reduces their weight by 26%, according to Diab. The undertray of the 220kg race car has also reportedly been produced from EconCore’s rPET honeycomb cores.
“With the rPET honeycomb core, Formula Electric Belgium were able to produce a highly rigid, lightweight front wing component which weighed in at only 50 g,” said Wouter Winant, technical manager at EconCore.
