jec world 2025 sustainability photos
JEC World 2025 featured a variety of composites innovations, including many related to new technologies, materials and applications of recycled materials and bio-based fibers or resins. Source | CW
JEC World 2025, which took place in early March in Paris, France, presented an opportunity to learn about numerous new composites materials, process technologies, applications and companies all in one place. My CW colleagues and I will each recap some of the trends and technologies we saw at the show.
In this report, I share highlights from some of the many sustainability-related technologies and companies that were present, especially new and maturing recycling and biomaterials solutions.
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One emphasis at this year’s event was sustainability-focused partnerships, kicked off on the first morning of the show with the launch of the European Circular Composites Alliance (ECCA), an initiative spearheaded by JEC Group (Paris, France) and the European Composites Industry Association (EuCIA, Brussels, Belgium) with the goal of bringing together European partners to advance the use of recovered and recycled composites and to develop standards for circular product design.
Key topics
There were a number of other partnerships announced before or during the show, including a partnership between carbon fiber (CF) recycler Vartega (Denver, Colo., U.S.) and materials supplier Syensqo (Brussels, Belgium); a six-member industry initiative to advance composite boat circularity; and a collaboration between fabricator SFG Composites (Dubai, UAE) and flax fiber supplier Bcomp (Fribourg, Switzerland) to provide new biomaterial options (more on these below).
In addition, numerous conference presentations, JEC Innovation Award winners, and Startup Booster finalists and winners were focused on advancing recycling, biomaterial or other sustainability-focused initiatives in the composites industry. And, the Natural Fiber Village area was once again a feature at the show, providing a dedicated area for suppliers and manufacturers to connect regarding all things natural fiber composites (NFC).
While not an exhaustive list, here are some highlights from my sustainability-focused booth visits at the show:
The interest and need for a supply chain of companies that can reliably process/recycle high volumes of manufacturing scrap (or even end-of-life (EOL) composite parts) continues to grow, and with that the need for applications and uses for reclaimed fibers. This year’s JEC World event featured a variety of new and returning companies as well as presentations representing various aspects of composites recycling.
For example, a few trends I noticed from the exhibitors I spoke with included:
Mobile recycling technologies are starting to scale up
Building supply chains and partnerships continues to be vital, including in the thermoplastics recycling space
There are an increasing variety of new recycled carbon fiber (rCF) and recycled glass fiber (rGF) fabrics and tapes available, from nonwovens to unidirectional (UD) prepreg tapes
Development of recyclable resins continues, including new applications.
Scaling up mobile recycling
One of the biggest challenges in composites recycling is building up localized supply chains connecting companies producing materials scrap with recyclers. As one solution, several mobile recycling solutions have been developed in recent years with the goal of bringing recycling directly to the point of need.
KTM Technologies bike made from recycled carbon fiber
Carbon Cleanup displayed injection-molded motorcycle components at its JEC booth (top photo) manufactured from recycled polypropylene (rPP) and rCF produced by the company’s mobile CARB-E recycling unit (bottom). Source | CW (top), Carbon Cleanup (bottom)
Carbon Cleanup carbon fiber mobile recycling unit
For example, Carbon Cleanup (Linz, Austria) has developed a mobile “microfactory” carbon fiber (CF) recycling unit called CARB-E, which mechanically shreds and grinds dry carbon fiber or prepreg manufacturing scrap into short fiber material that can be compounded with new or recycled resin into pellets suitable for injection molding or additive manufacturing (AM).
Jörg Radanitsch, founder and CEO of Carbon Cleanup, says he became interested in CF recycling through his work on CF spar caps for wind blades at Hexcel. “I became inspired to create a recycling solution for these materials,” he explains.
The startup was founded in 2020 and built its first prototype machine in 2023. The company currently runs a pilot system at its facility and has built its first serial production unit, with more to come this year. The goal is to develop portable units that can be set up directly at a CF manufacturing facility or other site producing CF scrap that needs to be recycled — eliminating the obstacle of finding a local recycling facility to send scrap to.
Currently, CARB-E units are said to be able to process 100 tons of scrap per year running one shift per day, and, Carbon Cleanup claims, use minimal energy and operate at minimal cost compared to other recycling processes like pyrolysis. “But we aren’t compromising quality — performance and quality must still be there in the final fibers for them to be reusable,” Radanitsch says.
Carbon Cleanup’s focus is manufacturing and selling the machines themselves, but the company works with various industry partners on compounding and in the production of demonstrator components in an effort to create a closed-loop network for these materials.
For example, Radanitsch says Carbon Cleanup works with large-format additive manufacturing company Caracol (Barlassina, Italy), which also exhibited at JEC World 2025, to demonstrate the use of its recycled materials in thermoplastic composite pellets for AM that contain up to 20% rCF.
Targeting motorsports applications as a potential end use, the company displayed a variety of motorcycle components manufactured by partner KTM Technologies (Niederalm, Austria). These were made via injection molding with 10% rCF and recycled polypropylene (PP), as well as a hybrid glass fiber and rCF PP-based component. “Our ultimate goal is to create a network of recycling micro-factories,” Radanitsch says.
For companies looking to recycle GF, Composite Recycling (Écublens, Switzerland) offers mobile, proprietary thermolysis-based recycling units, and is currently focused on scale-up and partnerships. The first unit was delivered to waste treatment company Veolia (Nantes, France) to process up to 2 metric tons of material per day. The process results in reclaimed fibers and thermolysis oil that can then be used to manufacture new composites.
rally buggy with roof scoop made from recycled glass fiber
On display at JEC World was a rally buggy featuring a roof component (top photo) made from CompPair’s healable thermoset resin and rGF reclaimed via Composite Recycling’s mobile thermolysis unit (bottom). Source | CW (top), Composite Recycling (bottom)
Composite Recycling mobile thermolysis unit
Guillaume Perben, co-founder and CEO, reports that currently, the company has two small-scale prototype (capacity to process 5-kilogram batches) machines at its facility that it uses to develop its technology and to run recyclability tests for customers interested in the solution. The company plans to deliver its next-generation, industrial-scale machine capable of processing 3,000 metric tons of material per year in 2026.
As mentioned, during JEC World 2025, a partnership was announced between Composite Recycling, the Beneteau Group (Croix de Vie, France), Veolia, Arkema (Cologne, Germany), Owens Corning (Toledo, Ohio, U.S.), and Chomarat (Le Cheylard, France). The western France-based alliance aims to formally develop a circular supply chain for recycling scraps from the manufacture of sailboats. “Once we announced the unit at Veolia, we began hearing from other companies in France interested in partnering with us, and it soon became clear that we had the opportunity to develop and demonstrate what a full circular ecosystem could look like in practice across many industries,” Perben says.
Furthermore, Composite Recycling’s booth at the show was located immediately next to the booth of its partner CompPair Technologies Ltd. (Renens, Switzerland), which produces thermoset resins that are designed to be self-healing and repairable with a 1-minute heating process to extend the life of a composite part. “It was a natural partnership. We are both based in Switzerland, both won JEC startup awards,” Perben says.
The two companies recently collaborated to produce a rally buggy roof scoop and spare tire cover that combine recycled GF from Composite Recycling with CompPair’s healable resin. Manufactured via wet layup by Airbus employee rally buggy team Objectif Dunes, the roof scoop was on display on the buggy at the show’s Mobility Planet. “The buggy raced last year and got a lot of attention. It’s been great exposure for us and to demonstrate the high-performance combination of recycled GF with CompPair’s resin even in punishing conditions like a desert rally,” Perben says. In addition to marine applications, the company aims to market its materials for use in the automotive and wind energy markets.
Building supply chains for thermoplastic composites recycling
Thermoplastics (TP) are often claimed to be more easily recyclable than thermoset resins, but building a supply chain to enable this to happen is still a challenge. One company working on this is Spiral Recycled Thermoplastic Composites (Spiral RTC, Enschede, the Netherlands), which was part of the Netherlands pavilion at JEC World 2025. The startup, which has offices adjacent to the ThermoPlastic composites Research Center (TPRC), specializes in mechanical breakdown of high-performance carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic polymer (CFRTP) manufacturing scrap into chopped pieces that can be compounded with new TP resins into injection moldable material for manufacture of new parts.
“Our volume isn’t high at the moment, because our current focus is connecting with potential partners and solutions and building that ecosystem — we’re aligning waste sources, compounders and applications and really trying to establish a supply chain,” explains company co-founder Winand Kok.
Kok adds, “RCF becomes even more important when you hear about potential CF shortages, so this can help fill the gap but it has to make sense. Where we are at today is a similar price level to similar injection molding materials made with virgin fiber, but with a lower carbon footprint and guaranteed performance.”
Learn more
For primers on recent trends in composites sustainability, see the following from CW senior managing editor Grace Nehls:
How is performance guaranteed? “We source from high-quality production waste and use well-controlled aerospace-grade materials,” explains co-founder Hans Luinge. “And with our partners we have a very controlled process for converting it into material and into compounds, so the performance and price are both competitive with virgin materials.”
Emphasizing the company’s commitment to local supply chain partnerships, Spiral RTC has spent about 2 years collaborating with Netherlands-based compounder Witcom Engineering Plastics and Belgium-based bicycle frame manufacturer Rein4ced to produce prototype rCF bicycle components.
“The bicycle industry produces a lot of waste in manufacturing, so we wanted to find solutions for reusing our own scrap in new parts, but we also needed this solution to be cost-effective and able to meet industry standards and our manufacturing volumes,” explains Juan Geerts, materials research engineer at Rein4ced.
For this project, Witcom’s team worked on the challenge of converting Spiral RTC’s regrind flakes — which combines both fibers and residual TP resin — into its injection moldable pellets, while maintaining needed stiffness and strength properties. “It’s been an iterative design process, but one that Witcom is invested in,” says Nico Harperink, technical sales manager for engineering plastics at Witcom.
The result is a prototype bicycle frame component manufactured from 83% rCF/nylon tape scrap combined with neat nylon. “Now, we’re working on gathering data, not only that the parts are up to standards but on their CO2 footprint versus virgin CF,” Kok says. Ultimately, the partners aim to produce a full, multi-material bicycle frame incorporating as much rCFRTP as possible.
In addition to this, Kok says that Spiral RTC is also working on a variety of other application areas including industrial applications, and on new materials such as pellets for large-scale 3D printing.
RCF/rGF nonwovens, organosheets, dry and prepreg tapes and more
In addition to recycling solutions for materials scrap, equally important is the need for applications and uses for the recycled materials afterward. At JEC this year, a number of companies presented new material products made from rCF or rGF.
For example, since reclaimed fibers are generally relatively short, regardless of the recycling process used, nonwoven fabrics present one opportunity for reuse of these materials, and several suppliers presented options at the show.
solar panel made from recycled carbon fiber
Gen 2 Carbon displayed a solar panel manufactured from ReCarbon’s rCF organosheets for greentech startup Levante. Source | CW
Pyrolysis specialists Gen 2 Carbon Ltd. (Bilston, U.K.) displayed and discussed new commercial and R&D applications using nonwovens Gen 2 Carbon produces from fibers reclaimed from prepregs and laminates. Mohammed Riaz, technical director, explains that current applications include organosheets manufactured by partner ReCarbon (Legnano, Italy), rCF prepreg applications for automotive, aerospace and tooling applications made by PRF Composite Materials (Poole, U.K.), and liquid molding applications for wind turbine nacelles and automotive applications.
Solvolysis-based CF recycling startup Extracthive (Laudun-l'Ardoise, France) has developed, with an external partner, nonwoven fabrics manufactured from rCF that are said to be suitable for automotive interior, industrial or marine applications. The company’s patented solvent-based PHYre technology processes thermoset or thermoplastic CFRP components in batches, resulting in high-quality short fibers suited for nonwoven production, as well as degraded resin components that can be reused within industry — Mehdi Mahmoudi, sales engineer, notes that the company is currently looking for partners and applications for the degraded resins. The solvents are also reusable for multiple batch cycles, which Mahmoudi says considerably reduces the environmental impact of the process.
recycled carbon fiber nonwoven
Extracthive displayed its latest nonwoven product made from rCF reclaimed via its solyvolysis process. Source |CW
While many commercial recycling processes are focused on manufacturing scrap materials such as dry fabrics and prepreg cutoffs, which is in general easier to source, Extracthive is focused on providing a solution for full CFRP parts. Currently, the company sources its materials from wind blade manufacturers, breaking down CFRP wind blade spar caps that have been scrapped due to defects or damage. Mahmoudi says the company is also in conversations with aerospace manufacturers and other industries to source additional materials as Extracthive grows past the pilot stage in the coming years.
Infinici AG (Hamburg, Germany) continues to advance its high-performance nonwovens for closed molding applications like resin transfer molding (RTM). Infinici got its start in 2021 specializing in conversion of rGF into nonwovens, but now also offers recycled CF nonwovens or hybrid CF/GF materials, explains COO Mark Ludwig.
The company receives dry manufacturing scrap from manufacturers — mostly local utility vehicle manufacturers, Ludwig says, though also other automotive and marine manufacturers as well. Infinici cleans, grinds and shreds the scrap materials into uniform short fibers that can then be processed into its specially designed nonwovens while preserving the original fiber quality. The company also now offers a partially UD CF nonwoven fabric, in which Ludwig says about 80% of the fibers are aligned unidirectionally.
panel made from recycled glass fiber
This yacht interior lid was manufactured via RTM using Infinici’s rGF nonwovens. Source | CW
“Our materials are designed with a specific fiber placement for high drapability and better surface finish to make them ideal for closed molding applications,” Ludwig explains. He adds that in a grade-to-gate life cycle analysis (LCA), Infinici’s rGF materials were found to have a 95% reduced carbon footprint compared to virgin materials.
Infinici’s materials are suited to a variety of applications made via closed molding processes, with the majority of products going to public transportation, utility vehicles and marine customers for applications like outer shells of buses and panels for yacht interiors.
Beyond nonwovens, Startup Booster finalist Phoenix Carbon’s (Bristol, U.K.) CEO and co-founder Rick Stuart presented a woven rCF fabric, which is sourced from woven prepreg manufacturing scrap reclaimed through the company’s patented solvolysis-based process. The company claims its fabric has identical properties to a virgin CF woven fabric available for half the price.
There are also new and maturing efforts to manufacture aligned, UD prepreg tapes from discontinuous rCF. For example, Lineat Composites (Cheptow, Wales, U.K.) is a startup that has developed a process for aligning short recycled carbon fibers to manufacture UD tapes for use in new applications. The company started as an outgrowth of the University of Bristol with the project HiPerDiF (High Performance Discontinuous Fibre), participated in several sporting goods projects with the Carbon Fibre Circular Alliance (CFCA), and most recently began working on the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK-backed program SCALE-UP led by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR, Coventry, U.K.).
In October 2024, Lineat Composites moved from its space within the National Composites Centre (NCC) in Bristol into, U.K. to its first pilot facility in Cheptow, Wales.
Gary Owen, CEO of Lineat Composites, explains that the company currently runs an R&D line with the capacity to produce about 6-7,000 kilograms of tape per year — “This low volume, but suitable for our R&D efforts and certain sporting goods programs like bicycle wheels,” he says.
rackets made from unidirectional recycled carbon fiber tapes
Lineat displayed rackets manufactured from its UD rCF tapes. Source | CW
In addition, the company is planning for future expansion and will soon occupy space in the building next door as well, where Owen says two additional lines will be installed with capacity of 6,000 kilograms per year each.
At its facility, Lineat Composites currently works with CF production scrap supplied by recycling partner Procotex (Mouscron, Belgium), which sources materials from CF manufacturers.
Lineat claims its process can retain up to 85% of the mechanical properties of an equivalent continuous fiber through its multistep Aligned Formable Fibre Technology (AFFT) process: Discontinuous fibers are suspended in water, sprayed through an alignment head onto a plate and conveyor belt to create a preform, dried via infrared, and combined with a polymer film from supplier partner SHD Composites (Sleaford, U.K.) under heat and pressure to create 100-millimeter-wide UD prepreg tapes.
The company provides both preimpregnated or dry tapes, and Owen says that the company’s goal is to position itself more as a supplier of dry material going forward so companies can use whichever resin they choose.
Through its R&D efforts so far and partnership with Decathlon (Villeneuve d'Ascq, France), Lineat’s tapes have so far been used mostly for sporting goods applications like tennis rackets. “We’re also actively exploring other markets like electronics, automotive and aerospace applications as well,” Owen says.
Nova Carbon recycled carbon fiber noncrimp fabric
Nova Carbon displayed its rCF tapes and noncrimp fabric (NCF, top photo) and applications including bicycle frame components (bottom). Source | Nova Carbon (top), CW (bottom)
bicycle made from recycled carbon fiber
Nova Carbon (Bordeaux, France), which first exhibited within the Startup Booster area at JEC World 2023, has developed and marketed its own version of aligned rCF tapes. The company takes long carbon fibers sourced from dry CF manufacturing offcuts or broken-down EOL parts and converts them into 50-millimeter-wide tapes using its Long Fiber Realignment technology developed and patented by the University of Bordeaux. “Up to 80% of the fibers’ original stiffness is maintained,” says Alexandre Faure, textile and composites engineer at Nova Carbon.
New at JEC World 2025, the company has also developed a secondary process for manufacturing rCF into noncrimp fabrics (NCF). Nova Carbon also offers testing and analysis services for parts made with its materials in-house.
Today, the company is able to provide these dry tapes and NCFs for manufacture into new parts including bicycle components and other sporting goods components, luxury goods, pultruded profiles and more.
Continuing recyclable resins development
In an effort to make composites, especially thermoset composites, easier to recycle, in recent years several companies have launched thermoset resins said to be inherently more “recyclable,” meaning that they are designed to be separated from the fibers in a composite part using one or more recycling methods. Available options include Aditya Birla Advanced Material’s (Mumbai, India) Recyclamine and Arkema’s (Colombe, Franc) liquid thermoplastic Elium.
One company I caught up with at the show is resins supplier Swancor (Nantou, Taiwan), which continues to advance its recyclable thermoset resin product line EzCiclo and accompanying solvolysis-based recycling process.
Along with its original EzCiclo epoxy, most recently Swancor has developed EzCiclo RH512, which the company calls a high-performance vinyl/acrylic thermoset blend, a flexible resin option that can be used in a variety of applications and processes.
Composite parts manufactured with EzCiclo resins are designed to be recycled at their EOL. The parts would be sent to one of Swancor’s recycling facilities — the company currently operates recycling plants in Taiwan and China, with a third set to open this year in Romania — where they would be broken down into smaller pieces and then processed through a solvolysis cycle using Swancor’s specialized Cleaver solvent. The result is reportedly high-performing fibers up to 50 centimeters in length, as well as usable oligomers that can be used to remanufacture new EzCiclo resins.
Rafael Mellado, CEO and general manager at Global Composites (Alicante, Spain), Swancor’s European distributor, notes that the top commercial and R&D applications for EzCiclo resins today are bicycle frame and wheel components, electrical transformer parts, marine components and wind turbine blades — most notably through Swancor’s ongoing partnership with Siemens Gamesa (Zamudia, Spain) to supply resins for its RecyclableBlade product line.
Robert Tsai, chairman of Swancor, notes that in addition to EzCiclo, Swancor is also investigating microwave-based recycling technology at its Chinese facility. “We’ve been working on this for the past 2 years. With microwave technology, our recycling facilities would be able to reclaim fibers made with any type of resin, not only EzCiclo,” he says.
Liux flax fiber and EzCiclo car
Liux’s Geko electric vehicle (EV) prototype, featuring flax fiber combined with recyclable EzCiclo resin, was featured prominently at Swancor’s booth. Source | CW
On display at JEC World 2025 was Geko, a prototype two-person electric vehicle (EV) developed by startup Liux (Madrid, Spain). The full monocoque, doors and fenders on the vehicle were manufactured via RTM from a combination of biaxial flax fiber fabric supplied by Saertex (Saerbeck, Germany) and Swancor’s EzCiclo RH512 thermoset resin.
“Our goal was to find and help develop recyclable material solutions in the automotive composite market,” says Liux co-founder and product CEO David Sancho. In the next several months, the company plans to build the first 10 production-series Geko vehicles, and to build a production-scale facility in 2026.
Biocomposite materials and technologies were also a strong focus at the trade show. For example, within the Startup Boosters area, category winner Strong by Form (Santiago, Spain) presented Woodflow, its timber-based composite used to manufacture exterior construction applications and more using the company’s additive manufacturing process. In addition, Applied Bioplastics (Austin, Texas, U.S.) introduced its cellulose-based polyester-alternative and thermoplastic composite materials.
Beyond the Startup area, a variety of exhibitors presented new and maturing natural fiber and bio-based resin technologies and company updates.
Natural fibers: New materials and partnerships
JEC World’s Natural Fibers Village is primarily organized by the Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp (Paris, France), which boasts 10,000+ members from across the European flax and hemp value chain from farmers to weavers, including 25 companies that specialize in natural fiber materials specifically for use in composite applications.
natural fiber village at jec world 2025
A variety of natural fiber rovings, fabrics and applications were on display at the Natural Fiber Village. Source | CW
natural fiber rovings
Julie Pariset, head of innovation and CSR at the Alliance, explains that overall production of flax is growing — she cites a 128% increase in flax production across all markets between 2014-2024. “We’re also seeing materials suppliers in the composites industry that have previously provided GF or CF start offering natural fiber materials. I think it means something when companies like Porcher and Chomarat and others are realizing that they need to be in this space,” she says. Part of the Alliance’s role within the composites industry is providing knowledge and confidence to enable wider investment and adoption, she adds.
In line with this goal, early this year the Alliance launched a new online sourcing platform that serves as a directory of all materials provided by Alliance members. Companies interested in adopting natural fiber rovings, fabrics or fillers can use the platform to find and learn about various options and to connect directly with suppliers. In addition, as seen on display at JEC World, Alliance member companies continue to develop and offer new fabric types, weaves and colors to support a wider range of possible applications.
Some of the largest obstacles toward wider adoption in composites, Pariset says, are lack of knowledge about how to manufacture with these materials and an understanding of material quality and origin. “Part of the Alliance’s role is communication. For example, we have a certification program to guarantee the origin and quality of materials and to enable the transparency needed for regulations, and we need to continue to communicate about this,” she says.
The Alliance also continues to develop and publish process guidelines for manufacturing with hemp and flax fibers, in various processes, formats and with either thermoset or TP resins. Currently, the Alliance has published open-access guides to coping with moisture sensitivity of flax and hemp fiber composites and vibration damping and other performance benefits.
Natural fiber composite suppliers also presented new technologies and updates at the show. For example, flax fiber materials supplier Bcomp Ltd., known for its high-performance ampliTex flax/epoxy fabrics for sports, motorsports and automotive applications, says it is “moving into high-volume projects for automotive vehicles. Our transition into becoming known as an automotive supplier is happening,” says Per Mårtensson, Bcomp chief revenue officer.
Bcomp flax fiber part
Bcomp displayed a range of automotive and motorsports applications for its flax fiber composites, including its latest nonwoven, thermoplastic and overmolding options (top image) and colored versions of its high-performance ampliTex materials (bottom). Source | CW
flax fiber motorsports component
In line with this goal, Bcomp has achieved IATF 16949 certification, which includes confirming the company’s materials can meet mechanical performance standards of vehicle exteriors. “Vehicle exteriors generally have a large CO2 impact because of the materials used, so flax fiber could be a really good alternative,” Mårtensson adds.
The company markets materials technologies suited for both high-performance and vehicle exterior applications as well as vehicle interiors. For exterior applications, ampliTex fabrics, which can be reinforced with Bcomp’s powerRibs technology, are provided as epoxy prepregs or infusible with epoxy via RTM. For interiors, Bcomp has more recently developed compression moldable nonwoven fabric for applications not needing as high of performance in addition to ampliTex fabrics, as well as TP options such as PP, including partially or fully bio-based PP options.
“We’re working on use of partially bio-based epoxies as well, but these are more difficult in terms of chemistry and less easily available,” explains Johann Wacht, manager of business development and strategic customer relationships at Bcomp. “In general, with biomaterials it’s better to go 85% than 0%.”
TPs are ideal especially for complex interior parts that may require injection overmolding of plastic components onto them, Wacht says, which is a process Bcomp is working with its automotive Tier 1 supplier partners to validate. “If you use PP within the flax fiber part, then you can overmold PP on top of it and create a monomaterial component that is easier to recycle at its EOL,” he says.
At its Natural Fiber Village booth, Bcomp displayed a number of motorsports and automotive components, including a vehicle seatback for Polestar demonstrating the combination of ampliTex, flax nonwovens and PP within one part.
Wacht adds that the company is working toward several high-volume vehicle exterior programs with OEMs, and hopes to announce more soon.
Ahead of the show, Bcomp announced a strategic partnership with sheet molding compound (SMC) specialist SFG Composites on large-scale integration of its flax fiber composite materials into SFG’s manufacturing processes.
SFG Composites, a first-time exhibitor at JEC World, is a family-owned company begun in 1966 under the name Solico Glass Fiber Factory. While the name was changed in 2024, SFG Composites continues to operate under the Solico Glass Fiber Factory umbrella along with co-located brands SWS Board Technology and Asis Boats.
According to SFG’s business development director Ines Polewka, the company got its start originally as specialists in composite hand layup for construction applications, and has since evolved into new markets, materials and process technologies.
At SFG’s 53,000-square-meter Dubai facility, today the company has capabilities such as R&D engineering support, production, testing and warehousing. Specialists in compression molding and SMC, SFG operates 11 Dieffenbacher presses of various sizes and pressure capabilities, and produces parts for construction, sports, marine, automotive and electrical applications.
Renske Visser, head of sustainability and branding at SFG Composites, emphasizes that the company is currently focused on increasing its sustainability focus and expanding its available eco-friendly offerings. For example, she says the company is enhancing its existing solar panel infrastructure, preparing for ISO 14001 environmental certification, and providing material options like Bcomp’s flax fiber-based ampliTex fabrics.
In addition, sister company SWS Board Technology produced its first sustainability report in 2023, announced a Fair Trade USA certification and launched a circular snowboard production system where returned boards are upcycled into new boards.
“We’re aiming to enable circularity within our customers’ industries, and we’re focused on building industry partnerships to help make that happen,” Visser explains.
In addition, co-located at the booth of flax producer Despestele (Valmartin, France), natural fiber composite boatbuilder and parts manufacturer Greenboats GmbH (Bremen, Germany) was featured by its newest brand name, Circular Structures.
Jan Paul Schirmer, managing director at Greenboats, explains that the company has recently decided to separate the three parts of its businesses into distinct brand entities to clarify and distinguish each business area: Greenboats, Greenlander and Circular Structures.
Circular Structures natural fibers booth
Greenboat brand Circular Structures displayed panels and R&D products like an EV wall charger made from flax fiber and bio-based epoxy. Source | CW
Greenboats remains the boatbuilding side of the business — where the company got its start. Greenlander is focused on manufacture of the company’s Sherpa RV design, which was launched in 2024 and features flax fiber/bio-based epoxy sandwich panels for interior and exterior structures. “This is our main customer focus as a company right now, and is doing amazing,” Schirmer says. After introducing the prototype Sherpa last year, the company has secured its first production orders and is currently working on finalizing the commercial manufacturing process and design.
Circular Structures is focused on new product development, R&D projects and selling flax fiber materials. “Our goal is to create more product verticals where there is product-market fit, like we have with Greenboats and Greenlander,” Schirmer explains. He cites prefabricated homes and the construction market as one potential area of interest that the company is working toward. “We’re focused on high-value, high-margin products rather than high volumes,” he adds. “The flax fiber composites industry is still at an early stage, where we need to be talking about the value that flax fiber adds, before we can get to the volume stage.”
Businesses interested in investigating natural fibers or seeking circular solutions can also partner with Circular Structures as an incubator and on R&D projects to lean on the company’s expertise and experience with flax fiber composites.
Progressing toward more bio-based resins
Resin suppliers also explained their new and continuing efforts toward offering more bio-based resin systems.
Sicomin and PCT ceiling demonstrator display
Sicomin displayed a demonstrator of its massive-scale ceiling renovation project with Premier Compostie Technologies, featuring use of the company’s epoxy and bio-based fire-retardant bio-epoxy gelcoat. Source | CW
For example, epoxy resins supplier Sicomin (Chateauneuf les Martigues, France) demonstrated resins, gelcoats and other material solutions, including partially bio-based GreenPoxy resins and gelcoats. One emphasis at the show was the potential for fire-retardant qualities in some of these materials, as demonstrated by Sicomin’s work with Premier Composite Technologies (PCT, Dubai, United Arab Emirates) on the manufacture of 216,800 square meters of multi-material ceiling panels for the Mataf extension at the Holy Mosque of Mecca. To meet strict weight and performance requirements, the structural base of these panels are constructed from quadraxial stitched glass and carbon fabrics, Sicomin’s SR 1122 fire-retardant epoxy, and its bio-based SGi 128 bio gelcoat.
In addition, when it comes to sustainability, global resins and chemicals supplier Syensqo has a goal to “accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility,” says Gabriel Molina, global sustainable development director at Syensqo. The company aims to do this by providing high-performance materials that enable lightweighting — “which makes transportation more sustainable, because it leads to less fuel use” — and, ultimately, a lower carbon footprint.
“In markets like automotive, there’s more pressure on the market to have sustainable materials in the supply chain, such as bio-based, recycled or low carbon-footprint materials. Eventually aerospace will get to this point. Our role is to continue pushing high-performance products and making adoption easier,” Molina says.
Syensqo sustainability emphasis at JEC World 2025 booth
Syensqo discussed its bio-resin offerings and developments, as well as recycling partnerships. Source | CW
What does this look like for Syensqo? In terms of its product offerings, the company is working toward developments in biomaterials as well as recycling.
In 2024, the company introduced MTM 49-3e30, a toughened epoxy prepreg with 30% bio-based feedstock. Based on its equivalent MTM 49-3 product, the new material serves as a pilot for the company’s ReGen brand, which will launch three more resins with partially bio-based feedstocks this year.
These materials are said to be geared toward structural and semi-structural automotive components, and the bio-feedstock is sourced from either sugar cane or, ideally, agricultural waste byproducts. “We’re focused on sustainable sourcing, and in that search, high performance is non-negotiable,” Molina says.
“We’re approaching biomaterials with a slow, progressive pace because we want to do this right, and also maintain profitability,” Meegan says. “The supply chain is getting more confident, but we’re still working on building this network.”
This supply chain also extends to Syensqo’s work toward searching for manufacturing waste and EOL solutions for its own production and for its customers. “We want eco-design and recyclability, but we’re not recyclers. We’re trying to help create the ecosystem,” Molina says.
For example, during JEC World 2025 Syensqo announced a partnership with carbon fiber recycling company Vartega aimed at converting dry carbon fiber and prepreg manufacturing scrap from Syensqo’s North American production sites into recycled material for reuse by Syensqo within its automotive-focused Echo specialty polymers portfolio. This announcement follows years of discussions between both companies, Meegan says, adding, “We’ve been in this for the long haul from the very beginning, and motivated to work with Vartega to close the loop and circularize the supply chain.”
Also at the show, Toray Industries (Tokyo, Japan) emphasized that it is taking steps toward meeting future customer sustainability needs. This includes the introduction of what it calls its “bio-circular” T700 carbon fiber, which incorporates acrylonitrile sourced from waste and residue from agriculture, forestry and related industries, using the ISCC mass balance approach.
“Today, the market does not want to pay the higher price for bio-based materials. So we are focused on early use cases to bring awareness, demonstrate the materials and ultimately bring down costs,” explains Dr. Armin Klesing, director of sales and marketing at Toray Carbon Fibers Europe (EU). One example is the use of bio-circular T700 to manufacture tennis rackets. Toray has also worked with partners to enable the conversion of prepreg production scrap material into pickleball net frame components.
Dr. Marc Huisman, director of R&D at Toray Advanced Composites EU, adds that the company is also looking into bio-based prepreg resin systems, installing monitoring systems to evaluate energy consumption within its production facilities, and conducting cradle-to-gate life cycle assessments to determine the carbon footprints of bio-based and traditional products. “The emissions for producing bio-based materials can actually sometimes be higher, though, so you have to really look into and understand the data to make the best decisions,” Huisman says.
Look for more reporting on these and other companies and technologies on display at JEC World 2025 coming soon.