Towards circular materials
TAKE ACTION NOW
Many materials used in boat building have high embodied carbon and/or are hard to reuse, repair or recycle but great progress is being made across the marine industry to find both up and down stream solutions. Some actions you can take now are :
Ask your material provider to supply Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data. If they already do, use the LCA screening assessment to evaluate the quality of the data and then use the button below to share the data on the platform if 1) not aready on there and 2) publically shareable
Do an LCA as early as possible in the design of your product or yacht to identify where material hot spots are and if there are any opportunities to use alternative materials that have lower embodied carbon or that are recyclable at end of life. See the Materials Database below for information on alternative material suppliers.
Visit Composites UK and download their incredible Good Practice Guide.
Intro to the Circular Economy
Platform Development Targets 2022
1. Build a list of raw materials suppliers and engage with them to build understanding of data need between groups
2. Collect what has already been done technically on tooling within yards/teams
3. Share experience of BOM/LCA linked internal management software
NOTE: Any resources on this platform that have been created as a direct result of the Innovation Workshop Series or that directly progress the Roadmap 2030 are highlighted with **ROADMAP ACTION**
Materials resources for streamlining
EPDs signal a manufacturer's commitment to measuring and reducing the environmental impact of its products and services and report these impacts in a hyper-transparent way. With an EPD, manufacturers report comparable, objective and third-party verified data that show the good, the bad and the evil about the environmental performance of their products and services.
When developing an EPD, the environmental performance of the product shall be described from a life cycle perspective by carrying out a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the product. The results of the LCA study and other information mandated by the reference PCR and General Programme Instructions shall be compiled in the EPD reporting format. The EPD shall then be verified by an approved independent verifier before being registered and published at the International EPD System via our EPD Portal.
**ROADMAP ACTION**
LCA screening assessment
LCA is starting to be applied across the industry but it is difficult to know how to compare the results or know the quality of the LCA. This screening template, a resource requested as part of the March 2022 digital check in, aims to help the industry understand what questions they should ask about any LCA. It is based on the ISO 14044:2006 standard.
**ROADMAP ACTION**
Tooling impacts & flowchart
This flowchart has been developed with workshop participant input, the 11th Hour Racing Team Design & Build Report and other research.
IMOCA alternative materials
The IMOCA measurement 2025 rule favours the use of alternative materials for removable elements of the boat (chart table, seats, bunks, holds, etc.) which will be removed from the rule weight of the boat up to a limit of 100 kilos. This was already the case for solar panels, green energy systems and scientific instruments.
AG.0 Definition:
Alternative material: Material elaborated from natural material or fiber (organic or mineral), and/or recycled material intended to be used alone or in mixture with bio-based thermosetting matrices >30% or thermoplastic matrices (see list of alternative fibers, matrices and cores).
Recycled material: material of which at least 80% by weight of the raw material comes from a process of reprocessing and/or transformation of materials from finished products.
Alternative Materials Suppliers
Have a materials supplier that's not on here?
Please use the button below to share the details with us.
Be Inspired
Disclaimer : Much of the text for these case studies is taken directly off the company websites and therefore is designed to market their products. This website does not endorse these materials and products or confim their environmental sustainabiltuy credentials. This platform is designed to share information only.
Floki 6.50 - Bamboo mini by Atelier Interface
The Floki 6.50, designed and built by Antoine Mainfray, uses Cobratex bamboo sandwich material as it's principal composite, recycled PET core and Sicomin bioresin.
11th Hour Racing Team Design and Build Report
This report by Team 11th Hour Racing on their 2021 IMOCA build includes
A review of the current situation
Research into new sustainable design and build opportunities, with support from Kairos
Short term practical recommendations
Cradle to gate life cycle assessment using MarineShift360
Long term recommendations
The report Sustainable Design and Build Report is available in English and French.
Arkema Ocean 50
The Arkema IV Ocean 50, launched in September 2021 uses the Elium thermoplastic resin for a number of components including the crossbeam mold, which was recycled at the end of construction.
Read more here.
Kairos We Explore
The catermaran We Explore was launced by Roland Jourdain in May 2022. The 18m sailing boat integrates flax fibre into its hull construction and will be raced, by Roland Jourdain, in the Route de Rhum 2022.
Photo credit : WeExplore.org
Class 40 - Captain Alternance
The Class 40 Captain Alternance, built by Lalou Multi and launched in January 2022 for skipper Keni Piperol, uses Arkema Elim Thermoplastic resin and is fully recyclable.
Read more here (french)
Pip Hare Ocean Racing
Pip Hare completed the 2020 Vendee Globe with OneSails 4 T Certified recylable sails. For the Vendee Globe 2024 all IMOCA's must include a 'Greensail' amongst the 8 that they are allowed such as the Onesails 4T.
Read more here
Foiling SuMoth Competition, Foiling Week
The Foiling SuMoth Challenge was created by Foiling Week™ — the first and only global event dedicated to the amazingly fast foiling boats, their sailors, designers, and builders — to support and promote sustainable boat building practices. This unique design competition challenges students to construct competitive Moth class compliant foilers while also considering the environmental, social, and economic impacts of the manufacturing process.
Watch their great Masterclass series on sustainable boat design here
Photo : Moth in Filava/Elium flying in Malcesine at the Foiling Week 2022.
Baltic Café Racer
The Baltic Café Racer uses flax fibre for more than 50% of its hull and sustainably sourced cork for the decking. She also has an electric propulsion system, hydrogenerators and improved energy efficiency for hotel systems.
Read more here on the Baltic website
The majority of the hull is made of BComp's ampliTex™ natural flax fibre reinforcements, rather than carbon- or glass fibres. Consequently, the environmental impact is dramatically reduced as flax fibres are a naturally grown, CO2e neutral raw material. At end of life, the natural fibre composites can be incinerated and used for heat recovery, without residual waste. Thanks to Bcomp’s ampliTex™ technology delivering superior sound deadening properties, the use of insulation can be limited, and weight further reduced. Furthermore, the fibres naturally have around 3 times higher vibration damping, making them attractive for boat building.
Read more on the BComp website
GS4C Loop Mini 650 "Am
The Loop Mini 650 "Amável" was built using enriched basalt fiber and bio-based resin to demonstrate that full recyclability and sustainability could be associated with high end performances, Specifically, enriched basalt allows for full reclaim of raw material to be re-transformed in new virgin fiber with no downgrade of performances at End of Life, and recyclamine allows the reclaim of bio-based epoxy resin from cured composites to be re-proposed as thermoplastic for injection moulding applications. . Recyclable sails are in 4T from OneSails.
The full cradle to cradle recyclability of the reinforcement was verified in ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), paving the way for further investigations in order to take the solution to high volume industrial sectors. The EU Funded C2CC project validated this solution for automotive manufacturing as for the original vision. The Loop Mini 650 was supported by Regione Lombardia and a number of technical partners sharing the vision for circularity including Amer Yachts who is now taking the vision to production of their line of FRP Super Yachts with an ambitious program to replace fiberglass with sustainable composites.
GS4C recently supplied sustainable parts to BIOTHERM as for IMOCA's rule on alternative materials.
Multi award winning, the Ecoracer uses rComposite, an innovative composite based on a thermoplastic matric, natural or mineral fibres and Atlas HPE recyclable core. rComposite was developed by nlcomp in 2020 and is patent pending. (nl composites, 2022).
Based on more than 10 years of research & development. The Flax27 is made from 80% natural and/or recycled materials. At 1,200 kg, it is more than 10% lighter than a comparable GRP construction. Learn more here.
The skipper Armel Tripon set off on the Vendée Globe with a seat made from low-cost biosourced carbon fibres, the first piece of equipment produced by the IRT Jules Verne as part of the Force project. Read more here.
Academic resources