The increasing use of recycled carbon fiber (rCF) composites is a key enabler for more sustainable structural materials [1]. Compared to virgin fibers, recycled fiber materials exhibit a more heterogeneous microstructure [2], making a detailed understanding at the unit cell level essential before application in high-performance products such as alpine skis [3]. This contribution focuses on the numerical modelling of rCF composites at the representative unit cell scale and discusses its relevance for subsequent structural upscaling. A unit cell is defined to capture the characteristic architecture of fiber fabrics, including fiber orientation, packing density, and matrix distribution. Differences between virgin and recycled carbon fiber materials are addressed through modified fiber length distributions, increased waviness, and local inhomogeneities, which directly influence the effective mechanical response. Based on the unit cell simulations, effective material parameters are derived and evaluated with respect to stiffness, stress transfer, etc. The influence of newly introduced or updated material data for recycled fibers is examined to assess their impact on the predicted response. Finally, a brief outlook is given on the upscaling of the obtained properties to a simplified ski-level finite-element model, without aiming at full structural validation at this stage. The proposed modelling framework enables a systematic comparison between virgin and recycled carbon fiber composites and supports the integration of rCF materials into larger-scale simulations. It demonstrates the potential of unit cell-based modelling as a robust tool for assessing recycled composite materials in early-stage design.