Jute-Light

Jute-Light

Many biobased reinforcements for composite manufacturing has evolved in recent times, mainly flax based. Flax has very good properties that can sometimes compete with glass fibre but the reinforcements of good quality, does not have competitive prices. Jute is a bast fibers such as flax, but Jute is grown in much larger quantities and sold at comparatively very low price. Therefore, Jute-Light will contribute mainly to the Innovation Theme 1, Lower costs for lightweight structures. The greater proportion of lightweight materials that come from renewable raw materials, the shorter should the path to the climate-neutral society be, since plants act as carbon sinks and they are not a finite raw material, jute is renewed every year. Jute is grown in rotation with other crops since jute has soil-enhancing properties, thus it does not compete with food production, which is a great advantage in a world that needs space for growing food. Among other things, Swerea SICOMP attempts have been made to manufacture composites of jute in different forms with relatively good results but the results have not led to industrial production in Sweden. Swerea SICOMP and the University of Borås together with Juteborg and Volvo Cars therefore intends to initiate a process of industrial production of jutekompositer in Sweden, jute that is tailored for this purpose. By Juteborgs contacts and cooperation with farmers in Bangladesh, the results and specifications discussed directly with the growers. New unique fractionation technique will be used partly to get smoother fiber quality and also more efficient production methods in the subsequent steps towards composite manufacturing.