Exel Composites, Owens Corning, and Urban Canopee have joined forces to introduce a composite solution wholly made from circular and biobased materials. The partnership represents a step toward circular composite materials, relying solely on circular and biobased inputs.

Urban Canopee’s Corolle is an innovative plant canopy system designed to cool cities and combat the urban heat island effect. Its structure utilizes lightweight composite tubes. Through this collaboration, these tubes will be manufactured with pull-winding, using Owens Corning’s recently launched SUSTAINA® Loop, derived from pre-consumer glass fiber waste, combined with a bio-based resin. The continuous pull-winding process, a specialty of Exel Composites, enables high volume production with consistent quality while minimizing material waste.

“Incorporating Owens Corning’s fibers has allowed us to explore sustainable material options in demanding applications like Urban Canopee’s Corolle,” explained Kim Sjödahl, senior vice president of technology and sustainability at Exel Composites. “This pilot shows the potential of circular materials in real-world applications. The entire industry must embrace emission-reducing solutions to create a more sustainable future, and we are inviting other customers to follow Urban Canopee’s lead,” continued Sjödahl.

“SUSTAINA® Loop are designed to be a drop-in replacement for traditional materials,” explained Petra Inghelbrecht, sustainability leader of EU composites at Owens Corning. “They deliver the same mechanical performance as Type 30 fibers.”

“This pilot is a key step towards circularity in glass fiber composites. By recovering both our own and customer waste, we strive for a future with zero waste to landfill. This project is paving the way for a sustainable and circular composites industry,” Inghelbrecht concluded.

“By incorporating the SUSTAINA® Loop into our Corolle systems, we’re not just addressing the urban heat island effect, we’re also setting an example by adopting more sustainable materials in our products.” explained Elodie Grimoin, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder at Urban Canopee.

The Corolles are prominently placed in bustling public spaces, offering not only practical relief, but also a visible demonstration of the power of the circular composite tubes in action.

“This partnership is an important step in demonstrating to the industry that circular and bio-based materials perform as well as traditional materials. It highlights the advantages of transitioning to lower carbon products made possible by innovative circular solutions such as the SUSTAINA® Loop fiber,” concluded Sjödahl.