PORT ANGELES – The new Shore Aquatic Center has helped bring a new product line to market for a local organization that recycles carbon fiber.

Spectator and locker room benches at the remade swimming pool are the Composite Recycling Technology Center’s first “Trident Bench”. The bench is the world’s first sports bench made with recycled aerospace grade carbon fiber.

CRTC CEO David Walter says the benches provide light, strong benches that are non-porous and easy to clean.

“It’s a whole new design. It’s a slat kind of a system to allow for drainage of the water. And the fact that this is in a pool environment; you’ve got chlorine, you’ve got high humidity carbon fiber just works fantastic  in that environment because it’s so durable and it’s not impacted by you know, any of the chlorine it’s not impacted by moisture. So really a wonderful fit,” said Walter.

Shore Executive Director Steve Burke says the benches are perfect for a pool environment

“I told people I can take high quality stainless steel, which is they call 316 stainless, and I can rust it in 30 days. Which is why they call it stainless. But yeah,  our environment is really hard on stuff and their stuff can last,” said Burke.

The aquatic center purchased over 400 lineal feet of the Trident Bench™. The benches are impregnated with color, so they won’t fade or need painting either.

Port Angeles-based Composite Recycling Technology Center is a non-profit corporation formed in 2015 to innovate ways to turn carbon fiber scrap into products. The CRTC already has an expanding product line of park benches and is a large player in pickleball with nets and rackets. It operates near Fairchild Airport.