NATURAL FIBRES AND FILLERS | MATERIALS


new areas,” says Jean-Marie Bourgeois-Jacquet, in sales & business development at the venture. Faurecia, meanwhile, says innovation in sustain-


able materials is taking place across all of its business groups. The company says its aim is to reduce the CO2


footprint of materials used for


interior applications by 87% by 2030. Faurecia Interiors introduced its first NAFILean hemp-based products in 2008 and the company says it is building on this to develop other interiors products that have reduced CO2


emissions.


“A number of plants are suitable for use as bio-composites in plastic products — linen and bamboo, for example,” says Laurence Dufrancatel, who is Innovation Materials Manager and part of the Sustainable and Smart Product Line cteam member at Faurecia Interiors. “For use in automo- tive interiors parts, hemp meets OEMs’ perfor- mance and safety requirements.” The NAFILean range has grown from one


product to four today, with a next generation grade said to be in the development pipeline. “Each of these improves on the ‘parent product’ by lowering CO2


emissions, reducing weight, or opening possibilities for more uses. The original NAFILean


products are on average 25% lighter than their conventional counterparts and save around 28% in CO2


emissions,” says Dufrancatel. “NAFILean Stiff and NAFILite develop on the


existing range, offering more uses,” he says. “NAFILean Stiff makes for a tougher part that can be used in different settings while still saving 52% of CO2


emissions. And NAFILite has a microcell


structure with 29% reduction in weight and 43% in CO2


emissions before its use phase. NAFILean R, which uses a 100% recycled plastic matrix, saves


Above: NAFILean components are used on 17 production vehicles,


including the Mercedes S Class


IMAGE: FAURECIA


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