A review of the major issues surrounding the post-use disposal of poly
mer composite materials is presented. Composites are compared to unrei
nforced plastics in terms of production volume and the technologies av
ailable for reprocessing. Not surprisingly, composites comprise a very
small fraction of the plastics waste stream. In high-volume applicati
ons such as automobiles, however, there are reasons to be concerned ab
out composites recycling. The fundamental categories of dealing with w
aste (burning, burying, reusing, or using less in the first place) are
described in relation to plastics and composites. Reprocessing techno
logies with applications for composites are reviewed. For thermoset-ma
trix composites, processes involving regrinding waste materials and us
ing them as filler for other polymer processes show promise. For therm
oplastic-matrix composites, processes involving grinding and remolding
by injection or compression molding are promising. Applications for r
ecycled composites, without which reprocessing is futile, are also rev
iewed.