Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
increasing demand: new models from almost
all automotive companies that will be released
on the market this year or next year do have
considerably more interior parts once again
made with natural fibre reinforcing. On the
one hand, this is due to the high development
of the materials and the fact they have proven
themselves in practice, but on the other hand,
it is due also to the increasing interest of the
automotive industry in bio-based materials and
lightweight construction - natural fibre con-
struction parts can score in both fields. In addi-
tion, further cost and weight reductions have
been achieved in recent years, especially with
regard to compression moulding.
Furthermore, new trends are becoming
apparent: automotive manufacturers do not
want only to use bio-based materials but also to
show them to their customers. While, up to
now, natural fibre construction parts have disap-
peared under lamination, thus becoming invisi-
ble to the customer, in the near future vehicles
will be released on to the market that will exhibit
natural fibres under transparent films or lac-
quers, showing completely new surface effects.
Another trend is seen in the development of
making the plastics matrix bio-based as well;
that is, producing interior parts from polylactic
acid (PLA) or bio-based polypropylene (PP) and
natural fibres. While such 100% bio-based com-
posites will soon be found in Japanese cars, this
will still take a while in Europe.
With demand again increasing and new
concepts and the support of politicians for bio-
based products, sales of 40,000-50,000 t of
natural fibres could be achieved in Europe by
2015, at least 10-20% of which could be sup-
plied by European hemp.
hampered solely by the relatively high price
compared to mineral fibre insulation materials.
Here, only suitable economic-political frame-
work conditions can be of help.
Apart from the automotive and construc-
tion industry, there are numerous applications
with a smaller volume, such as briefcases, other
cases, various consumer goods (e.g. letter
scales, battery chargers, toys) or trays of grind-
ing/sanding discs and urns. The latter are a
good example of a 100% bio-based product:
the urns are produced from PLA, reinforced by
hemp fibres, and are fully biodegradable.
As well as the examples mentioned, injec-
tion moulding plays an important role in addi-
tion to the aforementioned compression
moulding. The increasing availability of high-
grade natural fibre injection moulding granu-
lates will help to develop new applications
quickly here.
12.4
New Processing Techniques
For some decades in the EU and North
America, there has been intense research
going on in new processing techniques for flax
and hemp fibres in order to make the develop-
ment of new high-price fields of application
possible for natural fibres. Two outstanding
processing techniques that are close to com-
mercial implementation are already today pro-
ducing modified hemp fibres amounting to
several hundred tonnes per year: first, the
Crailar process from Canada, which focuses
on the use of hemp fibres in the textile indus-
try, and second, the ultrasonic processing tech-
nique of the ECCO Group from Germany,
which focuses on high-grade technical fibres.
12.3 Insulation Materials and
Many Other Applications
12.5 Availability and Price
Development of Natural Fibres -
A Chance for European Hemp?
The second road to success is hemp insulation
materials, of which about 3000-4000 t are
produced annually and put on the market in
the EU. The most important manufacturers
and users are Germany, France and the UK,
respectively. The properties of hemp insulation
materials are very good and are appreciated by
customers. Achieving bigger sales markets is
While the technical natural fibre market is
increasing worldwide, the question of prices
and security of supply arises. In important cul-
tivating countries in Asia, the cropping areas
for jute and kenaf cannot be extended because
there is considerable competition for land for
