Composite Recycling at the core of a circular nautical industry

05.03.2025 18:30, Rita Longobardi

A new initiative in Western France is reshaping boat manufacturing by integrating composite recycling into a circular economy model. At the heart of this effort is Composite Recycling, whose thermolysis technology enables the recovery of glass fibers and thermolysis oil from composite waste.

Industry leaders, including Groupe Beneteau, Veolia, Arkema, Owens Corning, and Chomarat, have collaborated to create a closed-loop system. Veolia collects production scraps, which Composite Recycling processes into reusable materials. Arkema and Owens Corning then reintroduced these elements into new composites, allowing Groupe Beneteau to manufacture boats with recycled materials.

This model reduces landfill waste and serves as a blueprint for sustainable composite use beyond the marine industry, extending to the automotive, aerospace, and wind energy sectors. The initiative sets a precedent for reducing CO2 emissions and resource consumption in composite manufacturing by closing the loop.

Composite Recycling has been ranked among the TOP 100 Swiss Startups and won Venture Kick.

"Venture Kick was instrumental in our development. Each “kick”, 10k, 40k, and 100k was exactly what was needed at each instance to get us to the next level: a proper website to put us on the map, a first booth and participation at JEC, the world’s largest Composite Fair in Paris, where we won the Startup Booster award, and finally our prototype machine to perfect our technology," highlighted Guillaume Perben, Co-Founder and CEO of Composite Recycling. "For an industrial startup, all these steps are very real challenges if not supported by help such as we got from Venture Kick.  We are profoundly thankful for these kicks that helped us arrive at our current phase of deploying our industrial solution."


Composite Recycling Co-Founders: Guillaume Perben and Pascal Gallo