Racy Interiors Could Look Less Racy as the EU Aims to Ban Carbon Fiber

The European Union’s parliament wants to add carbon fiber to a list of hazardous materials, effectively banning the material starting in 2029.By Jack FitzgeraldPublished: Apr 15, 2025Save Article

Audi

• The European Union is looking to label carbon fiber as a “hazardous material,” effectively banning its use from 2029.
• An amendment drafted by the European Parliament would add carbon fiber to the EU’s list of hazardous materials, which includes things like lead and mercury.
• According to the amendment, the EU believes that carbon-fiber filaments that become airborne would be harmful if they come into contact with human skin.

Carbon fiber—the material ubiquitously used to make race cars lighter and road cars look more like race cars—could soon be banned in the European Union. A new amendment drafted by the European Parliament aims to label carbon fiber as a “hazardous material,” which would effectively ban its use in Europe.

The amendment was proposed under a revision to the EU’s End of Life Vehicles Directive, which is the arm of the European government tasked with recycling old cars. The change would add it to the EU’s list of hazardous materials, putting it on the same level as carcinogens such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium. According to the EU, carbon-fiber filaments could become airborne and would be harmful if they come into contact with human skin.

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Michael Simari|Car and Driver

If parliament votes to adopt the amendment, it would go into effect starting in 2029. Between wheels, seats, mirrors, and whatever else they manage to make out of the stuff, automakers, who are some of the largest buyers of the material in the world, would be forced to decline carbon-fiber manufacturing while seeking alternative options. According to a report by Motor1.com, auto manufacturing alone makes 20 percent of all carbon fiber use globally.

We don’t have the data to back it up, but we’re pretty sure BMW’s M department makes up at least half of that percentage just from the carbon it uses in its racy interiors. Given the widespread use of carbon fiber throughout the automotive sector, we could see some pushback to the new proposal before anything is set in stone.