JEC Composites Magazine editorial team produces three times a year special issues on top of the regular issues of the magazine.
- Every first quarter: the JEC Composites Observer
Written in collaboration with Estin & Co, it is the annual barometer of the composites industry, which provides a forecast growth up to the five coming years. This publication seeks to give an ample perspective and outlook of the industry for the next five years using graphs, key figures, market dynamics, and insights to illustrate the state of composites globally.
- Every spring: the JEC Composites Innovation Report
From raw materials to disruptive manufacturing processes, the Innovation Report showcases the most striking advances of the year unveiled at JEC World, offering a comprehensive panorama of a fast-evolving global industry.
- Every autumn: the JEC Composites Sustainability Report
Compiling highlights about the part composite materials are playing in creating the sustainable European economy of the future. The purpose of this annual work, rather than results, which quickly become obsolete, is to give examples of approaches contributing to and moving towards sustainability.
In the past, JEC published special issues about end users industries such as smarter cities, mobility, sports, health, and leisure, all these issues being available to all JEC Composites Magazine subscribers.
N°18 - april 2026
N°17 - february 2026
N°16 - november 2025
N°10 - march 2025
N°11 - march 2025
N°9 - october 2024
N°15 - march 2024
N°14 - march 2024
N°8 - february 2024
N°7 - december 2023
N°13 - april 2023
N°6 - march 2023
N°23 - november 2022
N°5 - february 2022
N°21 - april 2021
N°20 - april 2021
N°4 - november 2020
N°3 - may 2020
N°12 - march 2020
N°2 - november 2019
N°1 - march 2019
N°19 - september 2017
CONTEXT
1) Strategy and collaboration for sustainable composites
We live in an unprecedented time where the state of our planet and its capacity to remain stable under the weight of human civilisation has become a matter of urgent attention. There have always been...
2) Eco Impact Calculator – Cradle-to-Gate LCA for composite parts
EuCIA has introduced an online Eco Impact Calculator life cycle assessment tool to enable a reliable and credible calculation of the ecological impact associated with the manufacture of fibre...
3) You’ll notice that the expression “circular economy”, includes the word “economy”.
Polyvia is the main trade organization for industrial polymer processors in France, supporting them in their development. Together, they are building a competitive, attractive and responsible industry...
4) The fiberglass industry, a sector preparing for the future
GlassFibreEurope is a professional association very concerned about environmental issues as a whole. For many years, it has been questioning the impact of production, as well as reflecting on and...
5) Life cycle assessment of CFGF – Continuous Filament Glass Fibre Products
This paper includes the first three sections of the lifecycle analysis prepared by PwC in 2016 on behalf of GlassFibre Europe. This assessment was carried out following standard practices, and in...
6) Are Flax and Hemp fiber composites sustainable?
Chapter from publication 2018 “Flax and Hemp Fiber Composites, a market reality - The Biobased Solutions For The Industry” by the European Scientific Council of CELC - The European Confederation of...
6b) Environmental data on flax : a collective mission led by the European Confederation of Flax and Hemp | CELC
The European Confederation of Flax and Hemp | CELC as the only European agro-industrial organization federating all the stages of production and transformation for flax/linen & hemp, representing 80%...
7) Comparative life cycle assessment of bio-based (pp/flax and hemp fiber) and fossil-based (abs) automobile door panels
Composites using plant fibres (for example flax and hemp) as reinforcements, mixed with resin that may also be of vegetable origin are known as bio-based composites. These bio-based composites are...
CONCEPTION & RAW MATERIALS
II. Conception & Raw materials
The second chapter of our study is dedicated to conceptual design and raw materials. The fact is that taking action from the initial phases makes it possible to obtain rewarding results. One can...
1) Natural-fibre composites: an overview
The global natural fibre composites market was valued at USD 4.46 billion in 2016. It is likely to register a CAGR of 11.8% from 2016 to 2024. A spiralling demand for lightweight products from the...
2) Biosourcing: what are the available reinforcements on the market?
Chapter from publication 2018 “Flax and Hemp Fiber Composites, a market reality The Biobased Solutions For The Industry” by the European Scientific Council of CELC - The European Confederation of Flax...
3) Market overview for “Natural Technical Fibres in Materials” (excluding wood) in France
The publication that follows is an excerpt of the 2020 Market Overview for Natural Technical Fibres for Materials” (excluding wood) in France. This resource was coordinated by FRD and IAR, through...
4) Sustainable bio-based products for public and private purchasing agents
In April 2019, ADEME, the French Environmental and Energy Management agency, published a study on “Sustainable Bio-based Products” for Public and Private Purchasing Agents, from which we have chosen...
5) Integrate bio-based products in your composites 2019 Edition
The publication that follows is an excerpt of the 2020 Market Overview for Natural Technical Fibres in Materials” (excluding wood) in France. This resource was coordinated by FRD and IAR, through...
6) New sizing formulation for recycled carbon fibres
The application of a sizing formulation on recycled carbon fibres obtained by pyrolysis can significantly enhance their technical and technological properties. CETMA developed a sizing for recycled...
7) UBQ introduces the greenest thermoplastic material
UBQ envisions a world where finite resources are infinitely reused. The Israel-based company aims to help rescue the planet. Through a patented process, waste becomes UBQ™ material, an infinitely...
8) A disruptive technical and economic performance boost for high conductive textiles
FibreCoat, a spin-off from RWTH Aachen University, has succeeded in industrialising a new highly conductive two-component fibre material produced cost-effectively in a melt drawing process at speeds...
9) How product lifecycle management software is taking over composites
With its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software SimcenterTM, Siemens lets you predict performance of your 3D geometry-based designs. In Simcenter 3D CAE products, you can import geometry from any...
PRODUCTION & WASTE
III. Production & Waste
This third chapter leads us into the heart of our industry, where we address the many forms of waste production and management, both at the source as well as during the process. The first article...
WASTE
1) Recycling and sustainability in the composites industry
The production and use of fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP) has continuously increased over the past decades, mainly in the automotive, aeronautical, wind, marine and construction industries. The...
2) Carbon fibre production waste management in the aviation industry
Composite materials have been a part of aviation almost since this materials inception, with first major applications in the 80s when Airbus introduced a full CFRP vertical tail plane. And in the last...
3) How automation can save emissions by reducing waste at the source
As we are facing new challenges everyday due to the usage of non-sustainable materials and their overproduction, sustainability is becoming the main pillar of society and, therefore, companies are...
4) Waste-free composite wheel production
Wheels are ubiquitous, not only in our daily lives but also in machinery. Lighter wheels are often beneficial as less moving mass consumes less energy. Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) wheels have...
5) When 3D printing meets sustainability
4D Pioneers is a growing start-up that uses additive manufacturing of high-performance materials to create a more sustainable future for the industry. With its team of experts, the start-up offers a...
6) Biocomposites and automation: a sustainable future for the building industry
BioMat/ITKE tackles problems of the contemporary building sector by leading research in the area of bio-based materials and their automatized application in architecture. Their 1:1 architectural...
7) New process solves composites recycling challenge
A new process enables composites to be reused several times and negates the need for an autoclave, significantly reducing cost and increasing production capacity. The P2T process addresses one of the...
8) lnnovative semi-products made of recycled carbon fibres
The I2M laboratory launched a project to develop a specific unweaving/realignment/consolidation machine in order to transform pieces of carbon fabric into continuous strips of realigned carbon fibres....
9) From offcuts to a high-performance material
The constantly growing use of carbon fibre generates more and more offcuts. Through further development, these fibres can be used as a base material to produce a Sheet Moulding Compound (SMC) raw...
10) Quality Assurance – right from the start
To avoid producing waste or minor quality, quality assurance in the manufacturing of composite parts should start with the basics. As it is the task of the fibre to bring strength and stiffness into a...
RECYCLING
IV. Recycling & Recovery
This chapter will not be the most flattering for composites, if we focus only on the percentage recycled—a mere 1%--and if we compare them to other materials. Much still remains to be done to comply...
1) Recycling as a key task for a trade association
Recycling is an important criterion in the selection of materials, and has been an issue for much longer than the debate on marine pollution. But whereas recovery and recycling options used to be of...
2) Composites recycling: in search of the circular economy
Recycling composite materials presents challenges, but companies across the industry are prioritising sustainable circular economic strategies and developing viable recycling processes and business...
3) A new generation of recycled composite materials for sustainable mobility
Composite materials play a key role in the development of lightweight structures that help reduce vehicle weight. The main advantage of using more lightweight materials is the reduction in CO2...
4) It’s possible to achieve a circular economy now!
Recycling Carbon is an organization dedicated to environmentally responsible carbon fibre waste processing. Comprised of a team of people from all different walks of life with multiple skillsets,...
5) “Fibre recovery is just one step on the way to a successful closed-loop approach”
The global carbon fibre demand is estimated to double by 2020. Still, current manufacturing technologies result in high waste volumes – up to 40 % as far as automotive is concerned. The required...
6) Advancing recycling of wind turbine blades
As the wind industry continues to grow to provide renewable energy across the globe, it is committed to promoting a circular economy which reduces environmental impacts throughout product lifecycles....
7) From bottle to blade
With an industrial heritage going back to 1835, Gurit has an extensive track record in advanced composites, gained over the last 30 years in various market sectors. Today, the company specializes in...
8) New trends in composites and plastics recycling
In a general context of scarce accessible material and energy resources, Cetim Grand Est developed two eco-processes for the recovery of composite and plastic waste to help reduce the environmental...
9) lnnovative composites made from up to 92% reclaimed materials
“To get straight to the point, Infinici has developed a technology that allows us to produce new composites from EoL glass fibre-reinforced plastics (GRP) and rigid polyurethane (PUR) composite...
10) Using recycled composites for an electric bike wheel hub
To reduce the footprint of daily mobility, Cogit Composites conducted a project that focused on the use of composite production waste to develop a new electric bike wheel hub with a specific design....
11) Upcycling plastic bottles into value-added composite applications
For every drum of Ineos PET-based resin, 1,800 used plastic bottles are diverted from landfills and oceans. This is the contribution of the Ineos Composites business towards the creation of a circular...
12) Composite Recycling Guide
Guide financed by ADEME IPC March 2017 CRECOF Editorial How can we recycle our wastes? Where can secondary raw materials made from recycled parts be sourced? The purpose of this guide is to provide...
APPLICATIONS
V. Applications
With this final chapter, we reach the end of our exploration of the various forms that a sustainable approach can take, or even environmental awareness in the strictest sense of the term. The...
1) Where are natural fibre composites heading?
Natural fibre composites are emerging as a sustainable alternative to composites reinforced with man-made fibres. However, they are still in their early adoption stages by the industry, and still...
2) Hydrogen-powered E-mobility: storage tanks for tomorrow´s fuel-cell-driven electric vehicles – an indispensable development for the future in transportation
Composite pressure vessels - one of the most demanding applications for carbon fiber composites with great potential to reduce cost. Today´s capacities would be not sufficient to produce the amount of...
3) A satellite panel reinforced with natural fibres for cleaner space exploration
Together with the European Space Agency (ESA), Bcomp developed the first natural fibre reinforced satellite panel to make space exploration cleaner and safer. As a finalist for the JEC Innovation...
4) The challenges of building large structures from flax fibre composites
The development of sustainable structures is a vital challenge that engineers need to address quickly to meet the needs of future generations. Flax fibre-reinforced composites are often cited as a...
5) Rotor sails reducing the environmental impact of shipping
Norsepower Rotor Sails are a new solution to the growing need for more sustainable shipping. These rotor sails do not share any similarities with traditional sails you might find on a yacht. Instead,...
6) Sustainable food packaging mate-rials using bionanocomposite films
Plastic waste is of great concern to consumers and householders, so that immediate action is required from the food packaging industries to develop innovative, reusable, recyclable and environment-...
GLOSSARY
VI. Glossary
Aggregate Aggregates are fragments of rock smaller than 125mm, intended for use in the composition of materials employed to build public works, civil engineering and construction structures....
You just used 1 credit. You have left.