#160 Interview with Chris Skinner, VP of Marketing and R&D at Owens Corning Composites at JEC World 25
26.04.2025 14 min Staffel 5 Episode 118
Zusammenfassung & Show Notes
What happens when two industry leaders unite for a greener future? Dive into Owens Corning and PRAANA Group's transformative journey in composites
During the recent JEC WORLD 2025 exhibition, Chris Skinner shared insights into Owens Corning Composites' sustainability initiatives and the strategic merger with the PRAANA Group.
Sustainability Activities and Solutions
Chris Skinner emphasized Owens Corning's commitment to transforming the composites industry through sustainability. Key initiatives include:
Renewable Energy: Owens Corning has transitioned its European melting operations to renewable energy sources, significantly reducing the carbon footprint of fiberglass production.
Circularity: The company has introduced the SUSTAINA® LOOP, a process that incorporates post-industrial waste and end-of-life composites back into their furnaces, promoting a circular economy.
Hydrogen Gas: In 2024, Owens Corning successfully operated its facility in France using hydrogen gas, achieving a 95% reduction in CO2 emissions from the furnace.
Chris Skinner's Roles and Contributions
Chris Skinner wears many hats within the industry, contributing to various initiatives:
Women in Composites: He actively supports diversity, including gender, culture, and religion, to foster better decision-making and innovation.
Startups: Chris invests in the startup booster at JEC, bringing fresh perspectives and new talent into the composites industry.
Board Member at JEC: He helps shape the future of composites, driving relevance and impact across the organization.
Merger with PRAANA Group
The merger of Owens Corning Composites with the PRAANA Group, an Indian organization committed to growth and sustainability, is a strategic move to enhance sustainability efforts. Chris Skinner highlighted three valid arguments for the merger:
Investment in Growth: PRAANA's commitment to investing in the composites business will drive innovation and expansion, supporting sustainable practices.
Shared Values: Both organizations prioritize sustainability, ensuring that the merged entity will continue to focus on reducing environmental impact.
Global Reach: The merger expands Owens Corning's footprint beyond North America and Europe, leveraging PRAANA's presence in India to promote sustainable composites globally.
Chris Skinner's vision and leadership are instrumental in advancing Owens Corning Composites' sustainability goals and fostering a diverse and innovative industry.
Now watch the Interview with Chris Skinner, VP of Marke
YouTube Episode: https://youtu.be/jNsLIaVoUzI
During the recent JEC WORLD 2025 exhibition, Chris Skinner shared insights into Owens Corning Composites' sustainability initiatives and the strategic merger with the PRAANA Group.
Sustainability Activities and Solutions
Chris Skinner emphasized Owens Corning's commitment to transforming the composites industry through sustainability. Key initiatives include:
Renewable Energy: Owens Corning has transitioned its European melting operations to renewable energy sources, significantly reducing the carbon footprint of fiberglass production.
Circularity: The company has introduced the SUSTAINA® LOOP, a process that incorporates post-industrial waste and end-of-life composites back into their furnaces, promoting a circular economy.
Hydrogen Gas: In 2024, Owens Corning successfully operated its facility in France using hydrogen gas, achieving a 95% reduction in CO2 emissions from the furnace.
Chris Skinner's Roles and Contributions
Chris Skinner wears many hats within the industry, contributing to various initiatives:
Women in Composites: He actively supports diversity, including gender, culture, and religion, to foster better decision-making and innovation.
Startups: Chris invests in the startup booster at JEC, bringing fresh perspectives and new talent into the composites industry.
Board Member at JEC: He helps shape the future of composites, driving relevance and impact across the organization.
Merger with PRAANA Group
The merger of Owens Corning Composites with the PRAANA Group, an Indian organization committed to growth and sustainability, is a strategic move to enhance sustainability efforts. Chris Skinner highlighted three valid arguments for the merger:
Investment in Growth: PRAANA's commitment to investing in the composites business will drive innovation and expansion, supporting sustainable practices.
Shared Values: Both organizations prioritize sustainability, ensuring that the merged entity will continue to focus on reducing environmental impact.
Global Reach: The merger expands Owens Corning's footprint beyond North America and Europe, leveraging PRAANA's presence in India to promote sustainable composites globally.
Chris Skinner's vision and leadership are instrumental in advancing Owens Corning Composites' sustainability goals and fostering a diverse and innovative industry.
Now watch the Interview with Chris Skinner, VP of Marke
YouTube Episode: https://youtu.be/jNsLIaVoUzI
Transkript
So dear LinkedIn Community Composites
Lounge Members, JEC World Visitors
and Exhibitors, I have the great honor
now to have with me, Chris Skinner.
He's really a legend in this industry.
VP of Marketing
and even R&D?
-That's true.
Yes, it's a special combination,
I have to say.
Thank you for being part of our show.
-My pleasure. My pleasure.
So let's dive directly into it.
Owens Corning
is THE inventor of fiberglass.
So anyone in the composites industry
knows that fiberglass
is the dominant fiber
in the composites industry.
But everyone knows also that fiberglass,
of course, is a melted product,
and melting means a lot of energy
coming into it.
And by the lifetime of the products,
this energy is being given
back many, many times,
because all the products are very durable,
very long term established.
But Chris, let me ask you,
what is your view
as Owens Corning Composites
on sustainability?
That's a really great question.
I mean, I think for me,
if you look back
at the past of composites,
what you've seen is
that people have been focused
on the durability of composites
as the definition of sustainability.
I mean, really making things,
making structures last longer,
making cars lighter
has really been the focus.
But really over the past few years,
what we've been focused on
is how do we fundamentally change
the whole perspective of composites.
I mean, so really for us,
we've started to think
about how do we move,
how do we move our melting operations
to renewable energy.
So within the European environment,
we've moved all our melting operations
to renewable energy.
And then more recently,
what we've started to think about is,
okay, how do we actually bring circularity
back into this process?
So we've started with the process
of bringing post-industrial waste
and bringing it back into our furnaces
with a product
that we call SUSTAINA® LOOP.
We're now working on processes
to bring end of life composites
back into our furnaces.
And then probably for us, most impressive,
and probably one
of the most amazing things
I've done within an R&D space is in 2024,
we actually ran our facility
in France on hydrogen gas.
So we basically used 100% renewable energy
for the electricity,
and we used hydrogen
to actually complete the melting.
This resulted in a 95% CO2 reduction
in the furnace.
I mean, for us, we've demonstrated
we can do circularity
and we've demonstrated
we can actually melt
almost zero carbon emission.
That's what we're focused on.
So really or us, the future is,
how do we roll this out
across the network?
And we really turn composites
into not only
an amazing material solution,
but also a sustainable solution.
-So, Chris, I'm seeing in our backdrop
you have a claim
called MAKE MORE POSSIBLE.
We as Composites Lounge,
our claim is CREATING SUSTAINABLE VALUE.
So it's a great fit today this discussion.
But can you break us
down "make more possible",
so what have you really done
in terms of sustainability.
Can you give us an idea?
So make more possible.
What does make more possible mean?
It means really taking composites
to the next level
and delivering solutions to customers
that actually enables them
to grow their business
and to be more profitable.
You know, so I think, I mean,
going back to the SUSTAINA® LOOP
point, I mean,
really for us to provide a product
to people doing things like automotive
or people doing things
like building
construction, where they're offering
a product which has exactly
the same performance
as a standard material, but has up to 100%
recycled content
by mass-balance, has totally
changed the game.
I mean, so for me this is the definition
of make more possible.
And it's really helping our customers
to actually do things
that they've always wanted to do
without actually changing
what they have to do
on a day to day basis.
Of course, at JEC World,
a lot of news are coming out
and one of the news,
okay, it was prior JEC World 2025,
but we have heard that your business,
the Owens Corning Composites business,
have been sold
or you've merged with the Praana Group
and you are one of the key figures,
obviously, to ask and get a direct input
there. So will that impede or promote
some of your activities
and ambitions in sustainability?
-The acquisition of the glass
reinforcements business
has been a long journey, right?
I mean, I think for the past 12 months
we've been looking
at what we call
a strategic review of the business
and why a strategic review?
Owens Corning is predominantly
a North American and European business
that's focused on downstream building
and construction
and really in downstream distribution
and building products.
And really, as this business developed,
the glass reinforcements business
became less,
less important in that environment.
So really, we led
a strategic review process,
and we ended up in a process
where we sold the business to Praana.
Praana is a super interesting group.
I mean, really,
it's an Indian organization.
It's committed to growth,
it's committed to sustainability,
and it's committed to composites.
I mean, really
it's a super interesting focus
for this business.
So really what we see is we see a company
that's really willing
to invest to grow
the position in composites.
And one of their core values
is sustainability.
So as we see this going forward,
we see that our commitment
to sustainability
is only going to increase.
And for us that's super exciting.
-Thanks for the corporate
information, Chris.
So we are done with the corporate stuff.
Now I want to know Chris a little more.
You have to know
that I was looking for Chris
all the years,
but he's so busy all the days,
and the reason why he's so busy is,
because he's involved
in many formats and initiatives.
Also, with the JEC Group.
There's for example,
this week, I think it was
yesterday "Women in Composites".
Chris, can you run us
through what are you contributing
to this community
other than the corporate style,
you as a person, where are you involved
and why do you do that?
For me, it's a really
interesting question.
I mean, I think invariably, honestly,
when you look
around the organization we work in,
there's a lot
of relatively middle aged white men
in this environment.
I think for us to really help diversity
in an organization is super important.
And I think when you get diversity,
you get diversity of thought,
you get better decision making,
you get faster innovation.
So for me, it's really important
to make sure
that we're supporting
diversity in all aspects.
It's not only women in composites,
it's also culture,
it's also religion,
it's also gender, it's everything.
So I think for us, I mean,
really what I've tried to do
is really help this group to be successful
without impressing my opinion on it
and really just enabling the growth
and the natural development of the women
and composites, because
it just makes our industry better.
Absolutely, absolutely.
So just to give you an example,
I have a team with me, Selin and Mary,
which is behind the camera.
And, I think to get the female energy
into this is
a great piece, and I've asked them
to conduct some Gen Z reels
and thank you and Jens for really
you have done so much
to get some Gen Z's
in and they did a fantastic job.
And the younger generation, for example.
And that's my question to you,
do you also get the younger generation,
the talents developed?
How do you view that?
-Yeah. And I think for me
it's really interesting.
So one of the areas
that I'm really pretty active
is we support startups.
And I think you look at it, I've spent
4 or 5 years
investing in the startup booster at JEC.
Why do I do this?
I do this, because you get
a completely different thought process.
You get a different style of innovation,
and it's completely different
from what you see
in the standard R&D environments.
You bring young people in.
You bring new thought in,
you bring new talent
into the organization.
And it's super cool, right?
It's super cool.
It makes life super interesting, you know.
And I think for us, it's again,
this thing about
how do you bring diversity
into this organization.
So for me, I'm committed to that
within this environment.
And really it's the values
of Owens Corning and it's the values
of the composites business
and its the values
of the glass reinforcements business
going forward.
-Absolutely cool.
So we got the women in composites.
We got the startups.
Any other format where
you are actively currently supporting
in this community?
-Yeah, I mean, I sit on the board of JEC
and it's a really interesting role,
because it's this thing about
how do you shape the future
of this organization
to really drive composites
to become more relevant
and more impactful
across the organization?
And again, it's a super privilege
to be in that role,
because you get to help
shape something like this.
It's tremendous.
-Absolutely. And we have seen
the composites industry
is growing by the year.
Chris, I did yesterday a count down.
I was asked by Simonetta
how many times I've been to JEC World.
So 2025, 24, 23
then there was 22, then there was a break.
21, 20. We couldn't go to any events
so I ended up with 15
and you are with 15 years and.
I am at 15 as well.
-So that's fantastic to see
how this community
and the industry is growing,
because the opportunity of growth
is immense in composites.
We are still scratching on the surface
if we compare with cement,
steel, aluminium and the like.
So thank you so much
in the name of our community
for all what you are doing personally,
in your personal capacity,
but of course also as a corporate.
And next year we will see you probably
under a different branding here.
Not sure yet.
-We will, we will.
I hope we can continue
the conversation next year.
And thank you
for all you do for composites.
You make it accessible to the industry.
-Absolutely. That's the mission.
Thank you.
Thanks so much.