Exel Composites внедряет биоматериалы и переработку для повышения устойчивости композитов

Practical Steps to Making Composites More Sustainable Sponsored Content Exel Composites discusses a practical, multi-faceted approach — including biomaterials, recycling and partnerships to build scale — as well as the industry’s circularity challenges and future opportunities. Share Exel Composites has become a leader in pultruded composites that enable renewable and more efficient energy use, but has also tackled sustainability in its own operations, developing solutions for waste and end-of-life (EOL) products at its facilities as well as at its customers’, while collaborating with suppliers to use more recycled and bio-based resins, fibers and other inputs. Source | Exel Composites Exel Composites (Vantaa, Finland) was founded in 1960 and entered composites in 1973 with pultruded ski poles using first carbon fiber and then glass fiber. The company continued to grow in sporting goods through the 1980s and industrial applications in the 1990s, followed by wind blade spar caps and composite cores for electrical transmission lines (i.e., conductor cores), as well as lightweight structures for transportation and solutions that increase the performance and durability of a wide range of applications in buildings, construction and infrastructure. Throughout the 2000s, it expanded its pultrusion and pullwinding beyond Finland into the U.S., Austria and China, and in 2024, completed a joint manufacturing facility with Kineco Group in India focused on wind energy applications. Today, it is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pultruded composites. A partner in the KiMuRa project which collects, shreds and reuses composite waste in Finland in a cement co-processing plant (top left, clockwise), Exel Composites worked with customer Qheat to make sure its glass fiber composite pipes for geothermal heating (bottom left) can be reused in this way at their EOL. Source | CLIC Innovation, QHeat, Exel Composites But with that leadership comes responsibility. “Composites are long‑lasting, high‑performance materials, and that brings both benefits and real challenges, especially with end‑of‑life [EOL] products,” says Kim Sjödahl, senior vice president of technology and sustainability at Exel Composites. “We have worked for decades to develop components that improve sustainability through long-lasting performance — from lightweight structures for EVs and mobility, to more energy-efficient and long-lasting buildings and infrastructure to more efficient generation, transmission and distribution of energy. At the same time, we saw the need for improved sustainability, and began to work on embedding circularity into our products and how we approached the market.” Exel Composites doesn’t claim to have all answers, concedes Sjödahl, “but we have developed an approach that is practical and keeps advancing. There is no single solution or definition of success. We continue to experiment with bio-based materials and recycling as well as designing products with EOL in mind.” He notes the company’s approach combines life cycle thinking, practical action and partnerships “with the main task to keep moving forward. Our focus is not on closing one large loop but working with partners to find small loops wherever possible. And we’re also helping to build and support an ecosystem.” This type of collaboration is a must if true circularity in composites is to be widespread, he adds. Bio-based materials: Starting small and scaling “We’ve been working with bio-based resins for about 10 years,” says Sjödahl. “Our original thinking was to move from 100% petrochemical-based resins to 100% bio-based resins. But that’s quite a big step.” There are multiple constituents in resins, he explains. “For example, an unsaturated polyester resin [UPR] consists primarily of an unsaturated polyester backbone made from acids/anhydrides and glycols, dissolved in styrene as a reactive diluent. When you look at how to replace these, you must understand how that will affect performance.” Exel decided to take one step at a time, not changing the whole backbone, but leaving the acid components unchanged and focusing first on introducing a bio-based glycol. “We were able to get exactly the same performance but more easily implement this over a larger volume of resins thanks to a simpler approval instead of a longer process if we tried to replace everything.” Exel Composites started working with suppliers via pilot projects and then scaled to industrial implementation. The company began with INEOS composites — which is now Alta Performance Materials (London, U.K.) — and its ENVIREZ system, which is 23% bio-based glycol. It then worked with long-time collaborator Polynt (Bergamo, Italy), scaling to buy hundreds of tonnes of its 20% bio-based UPR that features a renewable monomer. Sjödahl also notes examples where Exel Composites defines the product specification, such as composite lattice masts for airport antenna supports, lighting systems and fencing. “For these, we can change the resin without doing such extensive approvals, and we continue to work toward increasing the percentage of bio-based content as well as the amounts we use.” Exel has also developed applications using bio-based fibers, namely flax. “Again, we typically suggest starting with hybrids, combining the flax with glass and/or carbon fiber in order to maintain performance and gain experience while lowering the overall carbon footprint of the product. Depending on the properties required, we can then work with customers to increase the flax content and/or add bio-based resin as well.” Recycling: Multiple avenues required “The first route we’ve supported is where process waste and EOL material is crushed and used in a cement making process,” says Sjödahl, “keeping it out of landfill.” He refers to the KiMuRa project started in December 2020, when the Finnish Plastics Industries Federation and the Ministry of the Environment teamed with recycling company Kuusakoski Oy, cement producer Finnsementti Oy, seven composite industry companies including Exel Composites, as well as the Finnboat marine industries federation and the wind power industry association, Renewables Finland. The result was a supply chain where glass fiber composite waste is transformed into clinker, an essential binding component in cement through a co-processing method that also recovers energy from the organic components in the resins during combustion, reducing the cement kiln’s use of fossil fuels. “We can recycle 70% of pultruded composite profile scrap — basically the glass fiber — while the remaining 30% is incinerated and used for energy,” notes Sjödahl. “Because this is a very stable industrial approach, a large amount of these alternative fuels are now being used in the cement process in Finland while the fiber waste reduces the need for virgin raw materials.” Pultruded carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) flats used for spar caps in longer, more efficient blades for wind turbines are being recycled by partner Fairmat into FairBoard structural panels. Source | Exel Composites, Fairmat But Exel Composites is also active in recycling composite waste back into new composites. In 2024, the company announced its partnership with carbon fiber recycler Fairmat (Paris, France). In its Nantes manufacturing facility carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite scrap from the pultruder’s two plants in Finland is accepted along with other composite waste and cut into standard 10 × 4-centimeter or 6 × 6-centimeter CFRP chips. “This approach means they are not using a lot of energy because they are not breaking the part down into fibers and resins,” says Sjödahl. As explained in CW’s 2026 FairFactory Plant Tour, Fairmat can supply these chips as-is, but also uses them to produce its other “chip-based” products including: single-ply, wider FairPatch or longer FairStrip, multilayer custom Fairmat Plate laminates — including a new version optimized with a special surface treatment for molding into pipes or other tube-shaped parts — or sheets and rolls of layup-ready FairPly. The company’s FairBoard products are structural panels made from pultruded profiles like those used in wind blade spar caps and other materials supplied by Exel Composites. Similarly, Exel Composites also sees the need not just for multiple recycled product formats, but also a wide array of approaches and methods. “Because composites are so complex, there really can’t be just one or two solutions,” says Sjödahl. “Fairmat’s approach works well for some products, but there are also pyrolysis and solvolysis approaches that work for other products. These methods require more energy but they also separate the fibers from the resin, enabling both to be recovered and reused in various ways.” For example, recovered glass fiber can be used to make various new products, but he notes Original Composites & Fiberglass (previously Owens Corning Glass Reinforcements) is also now taking such material and remelting it to produce new glass fiber (see “Circular Glass Fiber Production Line” and “Use of Post-Industrial Fiberglass Waste”). “Thus, you require less virgin input materials while providing a reuse for the recovered waste/EOL materials,” says Sjödahl. Meanwhile, resin is recovered as pyrolysis oil or a type of solvent mixture after solvolysis that can then be further processed into new materials. “So, you can rebuild new resins, and this is something we've been working on with several companies,” he adds. “The technology is proven, with a pretty high technology readiness level [TRL] of 7 or higher, but most of the companies are startups. Even with more veteran suppliers, the process lines are still not operating to their full commercial potential. We are supporting this development with several companies, each with different technologies, and trying to help them find optimal solutions.” Circularity challenges and ecosystems One of the largest issues for achieving circularity in composites is actually scale, notes Sjödahl. “Composites waste is projected to reach 683,000 metric tons annually by 2050 in Europe alone, but it comprises a diverse mix of fibers, thermoset and thermoplastic resins. Matching waste streams to recycling/reuse opportunities can be challenging. For example, the entire Finnish composites industry produces about 2,000 tons of scrap/year, while the capacity at Finnsementti Oy’s cement co-processing plant is 10X that amount.” “There also isn’t yet that much recycled material available on the market for manufacturers looking for circular input materials,” he adds. “For example, if you want to buy recycled glass fiber, it’s not that simple. The same is true for many of the thermoset resins. So, those are areas where we are trying to work with the industry and support our suppliers to increase availability.” Exel Composites works to connect window frame customers to companies with recycling solutions for scrap from mitered cuts of its pultruded profiles. Source | Exel Composites Another issue is how to collect and recycle composite products at EOL. “For example, we produce composite profiles for many different window suppliers,” says Sjödahl. “But these are sold across Europe and will be used for 25 years or more. How will these be recovered? That’s a challenge that we have to figure out.” One of Exel Composites’ first steps is to simply start building an ecosystem in this industry and customer base. “Windows typically require mitering the profiles for the 45° corners required for the frames,” explains Sjödahl. “These cuts generate scrap. We work with these customers to help connect them with possible recycling companies. And thus, we are starting to build a working ecosystem for recycling that can then work on EOL solutions.” “We also participate in the Nordic Circular Design Programme and the European Composite Industry Association’s [EUCIA] European Circular Composites Alliance [ECCA],” he continues. “The challenge of what to do with EOL composite products is also one of the topics we help work on in these groups.” These types of collaborations are key for the industry to develop standards and collective solutions for challenges such as life cycle assessment methodologies and material traceability. “Exel Composites contributes to these collective efforts,” adds Sjödahl. “By openly sharing data on materials, waste and emissions, we can work together to enable informed decision-making along the whole value chain.” Opportunities for closing loops, building scale Most companies have already started looking at how to reduce their Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint from energy use and emissions in their operations and facilities. Exel Composites had originally targeted a 50% reduction in its carbon footprint from energy use (versus a 2018 baseline) by 2030, says Sjödahl, “but actually achieved that in 2025. As of summer 2026, all our European facilities are fully powered by renewable energy (wind, solar, hydropower and biomass). We have now started to look at Scope 3 improvements from our input materials and supply chain. So, we are continuing to evaluate how to use more lower-energy recycled materials as inputs.” Exel Composites has partnered with Original Composites & Fiberglass to use its SUSTAINA glass fiber continuous filament mat (CFM) featuring 50% circular content at a commercial scale in products like pultruded profiles and pipes. Source | Exel Composites In July 2026, Exel Composites announced its partnership with Original Composites & Fiberglass to use SUSTAINA glass fiber continuous filament mat (CFM) for commercial-scale products across Europe, totaling several hundred tons of material in Exel Composites products annually. SUSTAINA CFM is certified to have 50% circular content, meaning for every ton produced, at least 500 kilograms of virgin raw material will be replaced with circular feedstock. “SUSTAINA is an example of partners working with us to help make our supply chain more sustainable, but also at industrial scale,” notes Sjödahl. “We do not want a separate ‘green line’ of products while the majority remains unchanged. Instead, we are trying to incorporate as much sustainable material as possible into our regular products. SUSTAINA lets us do that without compromising product performance or quality.” “At the same time, we are willing to help push sustainability even further,” he adds. “If a customer wants to work with us on a product with very high biocontent, for example, we can do that, and even look at 100% bio-based resins, but realizing there will be performance and cost tradeoffs to be evaluated and optimized.” But there are also smaller loops that can be closed, says Sjödahl. “Because we are typically cutting our products in specified lengths, there is a lot of dust generated during machining. Instead of assuming it could only be waste, we had a project to look at using it. Now, in all our factories, this dust is collected and used as a resin additive to replace other fillers, enabling us to recover hundreds of tons of material back into production.” “So, sustainability for us is not a single initiative, but a journey,” he emphasizes, “and we openly acknowledge that we have much more to learn, improve and share. We believe that sharing is actually key, because the industry needs to openly confront these challenges. That will help build the trust that enables the necessary collaboration required — no single company can achieve circularity alone. Progress requires working together across the value chain.” Exel Composites is trying to do its part, he adds, working with a wide range of partners who also want to help advance circularity solutions for composites. “Together, we can make sure composites not only deliver strength, lightweight and durability — but truly improve our ability to be responsible stewards of the planet.”