#203 Engineering meets sustainability at METSTRADE: Lessons from Gurit’s bio‑based epoxy journey
20.01.2026 9 min Staffel 5 Episode 161
Zusammenfassung & Show Notes
Engineering meets sustainability at METSTRADE: Lessons from Gurit’s bio‑based epoxy journey
At Metstrade on RAI Amsterdam—the world’s leading B2B hub for the leisure marine sector—Composites Lounge sat down with Philip Aikenhead (Head of Sales EMEA, Gurit) to explore what “sustainable resin solutions” actually means when boats must survive UV, salt, shock loads and repairs over decades. The takeaway: sustainability is moving from pilot talk to disciplined engineering practice.
Philip was also a panelist on the JEC Panel on innovation at Metstrade hosted by Éric Pierrejean, CEO of JEC and you can listen to the podcast on our Youtube playlist (Link in the Comment) and soon an any podcast app.
What changed?
Formulation first, slogans second.
Gurit has reformulated key epoxy portfolios (Prime™ infusion, Ampreg™ laminating) so that bio‑content is now standard—while retaining marine-class certifications and processing windows that builders already trust. In parallel, Gurit emphasizes low-toxicity chemistry (CMR- and SVHC-free hardeners) and recycled PET cores, tying material choices to LCA-backed CO₂ reduction rather than anecdotes.
Reality checks that matter to engineers
Application fit: Bio‑based epoxies are thermosets—great for high-end and semi‑structural parts, auxiliaries (hardtops, passerelles) and repairs; they drop into existing vacuum infusion and wet‑lam processes without exotic tooling.
Environmental durability: Gurit validates against UV and saltwater aging, aligning with service-life realities rather than lab-only claims.
Fire: IMO compliance remains a system-level problem; think liners/barriers and careful additive strategies—not silver bullets baked into every resin.
Why this matters now
Marine programs are increasingly measured on embodied carbon and operator safety—without sacrificing weight, cure control, or classification. Gurit’s approach—incremental CO₂ cuts at industrial scale—is exactly how complex fleets transition: pragmatic chemistry, compatible processes, auditable data.
This week at boot Düsseldorf: Composites Lounge will be on site to cover the composites agenda led by European Boating Industry (EBI) at the Blue Innovation Dock on 22 January 2026.
Engineers—what questions should we ask on bio‑based epoxies, cores, and recyclability?
Drop them in the comments, and follow for real‑time insights.
See you at JEC World 2026: Composites Lounge will also visit Gurit to track how the bio‑based and low‑toxicity roadmap evolves into new marine‑grade solutions. Let us know if you want a materials deep‑dive or booth‑side walkthrough.
YouTube Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tho5TYvB8j4
At Metstrade on RAI Amsterdam—the world’s leading B2B hub for the leisure marine sector—Composites Lounge sat down with Philip Aikenhead (Head of Sales EMEA, Gurit) to explore what “sustainable resin solutions” actually means when boats must survive UV, salt, shock loads and repairs over decades. The takeaway: sustainability is moving from pilot talk to disciplined engineering practice.
Philip was also a panelist on the JEC Panel on innovation at Metstrade hosted by Éric Pierrejean, CEO of JEC and you can listen to the podcast on our Youtube playlist (Link in the Comment) and soon an any podcast app.
What changed?
Formulation first, slogans second.
Gurit has reformulated key epoxy portfolios (Prime™ infusion, Ampreg™ laminating) so that bio‑content is now standard—while retaining marine-class certifications and processing windows that builders already trust. In parallel, Gurit emphasizes low-toxicity chemistry (CMR- and SVHC-free hardeners) and recycled PET cores, tying material choices to LCA-backed CO₂ reduction rather than anecdotes.
Reality checks that matter to engineers
Application fit: Bio‑based epoxies are thermosets—great for high-end and semi‑structural parts, auxiliaries (hardtops, passerelles) and repairs; they drop into existing vacuum infusion and wet‑lam processes without exotic tooling.
Environmental durability: Gurit validates against UV and saltwater aging, aligning with service-life realities rather than lab-only claims.
Fire: IMO compliance remains a system-level problem; think liners/barriers and careful additive strategies—not silver bullets baked into every resin.
Why this matters now
Marine programs are increasingly measured on embodied carbon and operator safety—without sacrificing weight, cure control, or classification. Gurit’s approach—incremental CO₂ cuts at industrial scale—is exactly how complex fleets transition: pragmatic chemistry, compatible processes, auditable data.
This week at boot Düsseldorf: Composites Lounge will be on site to cover the composites agenda led by European Boating Industry (EBI) at the Blue Innovation Dock on 22 January 2026.
Engineers—what questions should we ask on bio‑based epoxies, cores, and recyclability?
Drop them in the comments, and follow for real‑time insights.
See you at JEC World 2026: Composites Lounge will also visit Gurit to track how the bio‑based and low‑toxicity roadmap evolves into new marine‑grade solutions. Let us know if you want a materials deep‑dive or booth‑side walkthrough.
YouTube Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tho5TYvB8j4
Transkript
So wonderful good afternoon dear LinkedIn
community Composites Lounge
members JEC World visitors and exhibitors.
We are here today at Metstrade
in Amsterdam in November 2025
and I have now with me Philip Aikenhead
from Gurit.
Philip, how do you like Metstrade so far?
Metstrade is an excellent show.
Thank you.
Every year we participate at Metstrade
to meet and greet and build relationships
with our current and future customer base.
-So it's absolutely about marine
and the boating industry. Of course.
-Of course, yes
you are. I've seen from the Isle of Wight.
-Yes. Well, we have one factory
on the Isle of Wight,
and we have other factories
around the world
producing composite materials
used for primary structures
and secondary structures
in the construction
of high-end and mid-range composite boats.
Essentially
-You have a colleague who said.
Isle of Wight is the Composites Island
because there are so many Composites
produced on that small island, right?
-It's a hub for racing boats
and performance. And so the industry
has grown up around there. Yes.
So let's talk about your solutions
that you came up with here on Metstrade.
You were now in the panel of the JEC Group
about innovation and sustainability.
And Éric Pierrejean, the group CEO,
was hosting this.
Chairing this.
And you were panelist.
So thank you very much
for enlightening our audiences
about your solutions.
Let's talk about the biopolymers
that you have talked about.
My first question to you is
why do we need now biopolymers?
I think we need biopolymers today
because people are more conscious
about their carbon footprint.
They're more conscious about the materials
that are used to build
or repair their composite craft.
So we have a program
to introduce more bio source materials
into our resin systems,
and also to supply recycled core materials
for the construction in marine.
So we have an ongoing commitment
of sustainability in Gurit,
complying with life cycle assessments
and introducing bio based materials
to our structural epoxy systems,
resins, adhesives.
-And these biopolymers tell me, Philip,
these are for any kind of boats.
Or would you see
there is a specific favorite application.
-I think you can
use them in any kind of boat.
Mainly higher-end boats use epoxy
and lower tech boats
use polyester based materials.
So yes, there is a niche for it
and there is a demand.
If people are building,
let's say not just boats,
but let's say composite containers
other aspects,
other parts of boats that they want to use
are natural fiber or a bio source resin.
Then we can provide the solution for that.
Often it's auxiliary parts for the boats,
maybe composite hardtops,
Passerelle equipment.
There is certainly a place there
for bio source materials. Yes.
So did we talk about it?
Is it a thermoset or thermoplastic?
It is a thermoset. So epoxy is a thermoset
which is a non reversible reaction.
If you want to end of life
that you need to remove the resin
from the fiber using either a pyrolysis
or another method,
whereas a thermoset is meltable
and recoverable and reusable,
rather like a PET resin.
And there are other thermoset resins, too.
Yes, one of the questions in the panel
from the audience
was about combustibility.
How about, you know, fire safety,
fire resistance? Let me say the least,
that a boat is in a harsh condition
with salty water,
air, sun and everything is very harsh.
So did you check biopolymers
against all these conditions?
We have done obviously UV
and saltwater environment,
where we operate.
So we test these products in UV chambers
and degradation chambers
so we can analyze the life cycle
of the materials with the resin systems.
Fire is another topic completely.
Let's not draw into fire today.
That's about IMO regulations, passengers
and often in Composites
you use a supplementary blocker for fire,
so a liner of certain sorts
to incorporate it
into the primary structure
and resin matrix
is a challenging task
at the best of times. But it is possible.
Okay, so dear community, as you see,
biopolymers are a trend right now
and Gurit is driving one of those trends
here at Metstrade.
Allow me a final question, Philip.
Are you preparing for JEC World 2026?
Any highlights that you are preparing for
and if you can talk about it?
We're preparing for JEC 2026.
We attend every year.
Are there things we can talk about?
I think you'll have to come
and see us at JEC in 2026
and find out more.
Wonderful. Thank you so much, Philip,
for your time.
Thank you. Bye bye.