Flax composites, LOW weight, End of life and Recycling

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Led by the University of Southern Brittany, the FLOWER project brings together 4 academic partners and 4 industrial partners from the cross-border area in France and England. It aims to develop locally produced flax fibre reinforcements for the composite industry that cost less than existing semi-products. By stimulating the adoption of innovative products and systems, and by enabling companies in the France Channel England (FCE) region to benefit from the results of the research, FLOWER will actively contribute in overcoming the common challenges of the area, especially those related to research and preservation of the environment. Its specific objective is to develop innovative, high-performance flax reinforcements, well-adapted to meet the specific requirements of the composite industry; it will contribute significantly to strong and long-lasting changes in this sector. Composites are ubiquitous in industry: they account for about 20% of the mass of an automotive vehicle and are found in virtually all leisure products. The constituents of conventional composites are generally glass fibres and a non-recyclable thermoset resin. The products developed through FLOWER will have reduced environmental impact, thanks to their low-weight as well as their locally-sourced, and biodegradable or recyclable character. They will fully substitute glass fibres in the developed boats and automotive roof panels. The biocomposites market lacks well-adapted products. All too often, reinforcement fabrics have architectures specific to the textile industry that are poorly suited for the technical needs of composites. This is a major limitation in the development of biocomposites. FLOWER aims to respond to a real industrial demand by proposing the generation of two families of semi-products: i) non-woven reinforcements with low weights (50 g/m2 in comparison to the currently available 200 g/m2) and, ii) long fibre reinforcements for structural applications. They will benefit the companies of the consortium, as well as companies in the FCE region that will be targeted through the transfer actions. In the FCE region, the composites sector includes about 105 companies, which produce almost 80,000 tonnes of processed products, and turnover nearly 500 million euros annually. To carry out these actions, our consortium relies and builds on complementary cross-border competences. Our consortium spans the entire value-chain, from the agricultural production of flax fibres to the R&D of materials and the commercialisation of end-products in industries as diverse as the automotive, ship-building and advertising sectors. Covering this range of sectors will allow us to develop products ideally suited to the needs, ensuring balance between quality and cost. Normandy is the world leader in flax production and, both in France and in England, many SMEs develop composite materials. This area has a competitive advantage to become the ‘gold standard’ in the development of biocomposites.

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