According to Nova-Institute, currently, up to 80% of plastics can be replaced by biogenic fillers such as wood flour and cork, or by natural fibers for reinforcement. By now, the company says, biocomposites are available for almost every application: packaging, consumer goods, toys, handles, shoes, façade and terrace elements, floors, car parts and even furniture.
This years’ nominated companies provided an overview of the growing application sectors for biocomposites, ranging from automotive applications to packaging, consumer goods, cladding, music instruments and façade elements.
The top three winners were Golden Compound (first place), KNN Cellulose (second place) and Bcomp (third place). See more information about the third place here.
Third place: PowerRibs for sustainable lightweighting
Bcomp (Fribourg, Switzerland) has developed proprietary lightweighting solutions for high-performance applications by applying latest knowledge on composites to natural fibers. PowerRibs technology uses a reinforcing grid inspired by the thin veins in leaves, and that is said to provide maximum stiffness at minimum weight, enabling them to achieve the performance of carbon fibers in a motorsport body. The result is reportedly a 75% reduced CO2footprint, 30% lower costs and improved safety without toxic dust and sharp shattering, as well as viable end-of-life options. PowerRibs are also said to reduce weight for car interior coverings by up to 40%.