JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #133 - March/April 2020 - 71

PREVIEW JEC WORLD

BIO-BASED HUB
During JEC World 2020, CELC will
bring together key players in the
value chain to demonstrate the
state of the art in industrial flax and
hemp technologies, from roving,
nonwovens, grid, braid, hybrids,
and UD and multiaxial fabrics, to
thermoplastic/thermoset prepregs
and sandwich panels. Companies
exhibiting on the Hub will include
Bcomp, Dedienne Multiplasturgy,
Depestele, Flipts & Dobbels, F.R.D,
Safilin, Terre de Lin accompanied by
Neogen, Stora Enso.

FORUM SESSION - HALL 6
The natural solution
Thursday 5TH, March:
10AM - 10:30AM

THE FUTURE
IS CIRCULAR
The European Composites Industry
Association (EuCIA) is committed to
working with legislators, industry and
the research and education communities to further the sustainability and
circularity of the composites industry.
Sustainability will be the key factor for the
future development of the composites
industry worldwide. For example, the
European Commission recently launched
the Circular Plastics Alliance to promote
greater plastics recycling and reuse and it
is reviewing the End of Life Vehicle Directive
which sets recycling targets for specific
materials. In North America, the American
Composites Manufacturers Association
has restructured its Composites Growth
Initiative to focus on Sustainability
alongside the three topics of Building &
Infrastructure, Surface Transportation, and
Aerospace. The future of composites will
definitely be more 'circular.'

Supporting life cycle thinking
EuCIA has been committed to composites
sustainability for many years. In 2003/2004
we contributed to a significant amendment
to the definition of composites recycling
included in the European Waste Directive,
which endorses recycling of glass fibre
composites through co-processing in
cement kilns. More recently, we developed
the Eco Calculator, a free online tool which
allows companies to perform a cradle-togate life cycle assessment of their composite components. The Eco Calculator
dataset has been developed with the
support of the European industry and a
leading consultancy firm so users can fully
rely on the results, which are especially
valuable in comparisons with competitive
materials. Last year we launched a survey
on European recycling practices and activities, and we expect this to be available
at JEC World 2020 (Booth P92, Hall 6).
EuCIA is also one of the many signatories of
the Circular Plastics Alliance initiative, which
is aiming to increase the amount of recycled
plastics sold in the European market to
10 million tons by 2025. It's an ambitious
target since less than 4 million tons of recy-

PROFESSOR
ROBERTO
FRASSINE,
PRESIDENT,
EuCIA

cled plastics were sold in Europe in 2016,
which is less than 10% of the EU market
for plastics.

Making recycling a reality
The Circular Plastics Alliance is a good
platform to gather support in expanding
the use of the cement route for recycling
composites. With this method we do not
have to build specific industrial capacity
for recycling, but collection and sorting of
composites waste from different market
sectors is a critical issue which needs
attention. EuCIA has decided to focus initially on the automotive and construction
sectors, where significant composites
applications already exist and where
logistics solutions are essential. This is
an important opportunity for our industry
to demonstrate recycling options for
end-of-life composite parts.
There are many possibilities for recycling
composites waiting to be exploited, but
we must demonstrate that repair, reuse
and recycling of composites are not only
possible, but also beneficial for both the
environment and the economy. There are
already good business cases in Europe for
specific sectors - wind energy, for example - but we have to look for opportunities
to expand these to different countries
and different sectors within the complex
European legislative landscape. For the
composites industry to become more
sustainable we need the commitment of
the industry, as well as investments and
incentives from the authorities.

SUSTAINABILITY

also providing reliable data sheets, so that
the composites industry can rely upon the
stated properties when developing new
applications.
Probably the most successful examples of
natural fibre composites are to be found
in the automotive industry. Their unique
combination of lightweight, high mechanical properties and low ecological impact
has resulted in increasing penetration of
natural fibre composites in automotive
interiors (doors, floors, parcel shelfs). For
exterior or structural parts, several prototypes and small series concepts are being
developed, mainly for high-end sports cars
and electric vehicles.
The second important application area is
a diverse one, namely all products where
lightness, stiffness/strength and the
eco-aspect can be combined with another
unique property that only natural fibres can
provide. The excellent vibration damping
characteristics of natural fibres have
gained the most interest and there is now
a wide variety of flax (and hemp) based
sporting goods available - skis, surfboards, bicycles, tennis rackets. Makers of
musical instruments have also discovered
this unique property and natural fibre composite violins, cellos and guitars are being
commercialised.

COMMITTED TO COMPOSITES
SUSTAINABILITY
Come and meet EUCIA on stand P92
in Hall 6, where the latest results of
the study on sustainability and the
Eco-calculator will be presented.

FORUM SESSION - HALL 6
The future is circular
Thursday 5TH, March:
10:30AM - 11AM

No133 March - April 2020 /

jec composites magazine

71
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #133 - March/April 2020

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