Preview

Natural Fiber Composites in the Consumer Industry

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
660 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Natural Fiber Composites in the Consumer Industry
Consumer Industry

The adaptation of natural fiber composites in the consumer industry has not had the same explosive growth as with the transportation or even the construction industry. The benefits of cost savings and weight reduction that can be obtained with natural fiber composites played a significant role for the proliferation into those respective industries. But in the consumer market, stemming from the rise of synthetic fibers starting in the 1940’s, glass fiber and carbon fibers have dominated the market for composites due to their superior mechanical properties. From the 1970’s onward, petroleum-based fibers replaced natural fiber so that, worldwide, the cropping of natural fibers entered into steep decline, causing economic stagnation in the producer regions. In addition to the competition with synthetic fibers, innovation in transport facilities also contributed to the decline of natural fibers, particularly the advent of commodity bulk handling facilities in long distance trade, which eliminated the use of food-grade sacks altogether. Jute has always been the most important natural fiber but it too suffered long decline. In 1990, 2.1 million hectares were planted in jute, which fell to 1.6 million in 2000 and is projected to slump to 1.2 million hectares by 2010, a retraction of about 3% a year. During the same period, production also fell from 3.3 million tons to 2.6 million tons and is projected to diminish to 2.3 million tons by 2010. During this period jute consumed in the developed countries fell by 40% and that consumed in developing countries by 10%.(1)
During the past two decades, there has been a renewed interest in development of natural fiber plastic composites for the consumer industry. Two of the most prominent factors that are fueling this resurgence originate from the environmental impact of using these composites and the technological advances that address the disadvantages of fiber composite production and usage. Natural fibers

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    A fiber based biocomposite material contains polymers reinforced with natural fiber using natural fibers in biocomposites has various advantages, among which are: a) the material made from natural fibers will make it partially biodegradable; b) some fiber-based composites is somewhat expensive to make; c) natural fiber, in this research water hyacinth, is currently disposed and…

    • 5455 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Carbon Fiber

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The report will discuss some historical events and background information about carbon fiber. Also, it will focus on carbon fiber properties and two applications for it.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plastic is the most convenient material man ever discovered due to its relatively cheapness, ease of manufacture, versatility, and imperviousness to water. It is an extremely useful material. Every household contains plastic in which it varies in sizes colors and uses. But plastics seemed to create a drastic effect. Because of the problem in supply in petroleums. Companies that makes plastic chairs tends to decrease the amount of resin in the mixture which result in low quality of the product. Its strength is lessened and so thus the quality, leaving the customers seek for more durable and stronger plastic chair that can also help minimize the use of petroleum-based materials. In response to this problem, the researchers seek to develop hard plastics that has a component from natural resources, such as fish scales, which contains collagen and act as a glue for more stronger bind.…

    • 11617 Words
    • 44 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper delves in to the performance characteristics of fibres within chosen apparel and the sustainable replacements for these fibres. In particular, the document explores various questions relating to the subject including: (1) what are the performance characteristics for each fibre in general and chosen apparel?, (2) how is it suitable as an alternative to the fibre?, (3) In what ways are the performance characteristics of fibre’s different from each other?…

    • 8279 Words
    • 34 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Synthetic fibres are made entirely from chemicals. Synthetic fibres are usually stronger than either natural…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the late 1980s, early 1990s, the synthetic rubber polymer business was set to experience an unprecedented growth worldwide. Although that product had been developed in the 1930s, the demand for higher quality has been ongoing.…

    • 3985 Words
    • 114 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    We use plastic bottles because they don’t break easily and plastic wrapping to assure the product inside is safe. After the plastic has no more use to us we throw it away without realizing where it ends up or how it's the worst action against ourselves. Plastic is rarely recycled, it actually just sits for years in the landfill. However, with fiber, it can easily recycle or replaced. In “All the Plastic Ever Produced, Visualized” Michele Debczak talks about how the production of plastic is increasing but the old plastic has not been recycled for centuries. It states “ We’ve already produced 8.3 billion metric tons of the stuff, and most of it is sitting in landfills where it could take centuries to break down.” and also “Of that, only 9 percent has been recycled.” In the article Clean by Design it says that fiber doesn’t cause pollution as much as plastic would. “ Eco-fiber section can make a big difference in lowering the environmental footprint of a garment or collection...although organic cotton is a natural fiber, the impacts of dyeing it are higher than the impacts of dyeing polyester”. This clearly shows how plastic is harmful, it sits in the landfill and spreads chemicals to groundwater. Those chemicals then harm aquatic…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Celulosa Arauco

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The pulp industry has been marked by a flat growth over the past few years. Though, it is expected to pick up with demand increasing in the emerging economies such as China. The pulp producers have been known for controlling inventories releasing products to marketplace at a targeted price. But the overall market trend is changing from a supply driven market to a demand driven market. The Chilean government and free trade agreements with US and EU are favorable factors for the forestry and pulp industry. Use of genetics, pest control, weed protection, disease control, forest management has all lead to improve the quality and life of plantations.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Australia is the world 's largest wool producing country, and has been for decades. The fine quality of wool from the result of fine breeding has definitely help contribute to the high demand of the wool industry. Much of Australia 's wool has been exported to other countries such as China, Italy, Taiwan, Republic of Korea and France. However, Australia 's wool production has been decreasing for the last 10 years and the demand has been declining because of the other, easier to manage, synthetic fibers and materials that have been introduced to the market. This following report is regarding the changes and effects the wool industry had on Australia in the 19th century, the reasons for the successful development of the wool industry, and also Australia 's current position in wool production.…

    • 1433 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Design Guide for Plastics

    • 34950 Words
    • 140 Pages

    This publication is made up of a series of articles published in Plastics and Rubber Weekly as a piece work. The kind assistance of the author and PRW is acknowledged in the publication of the work. The publication will be updated in a regular basis as new sections of the guide are published by PRW.…

    • 34950 Words
    • 140 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Carbon Fiber

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The raw material used to make carbon fiber is called the precursor. About 90% of the carbon fibers produced are made from polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The remaining 10% are made from rayon or petroleum pitch. All of these materials are organic polymers, characterized by long strings of molecules bound together by carbon atoms. The exact composition of each precursor varies from one company to another and is generally considered a trade secret. Most car components are made of steel. Replacing steel components with carbon fiber would reduce the weight of most cars by 60 percent. Only a few cars available at your local dealership use carbon fiber. The BMW M6 has some carbon fiber panels on its body, as does the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and the Ford GT. The Audi R8 also includes some carbon fiber Now, the price is around $10 a pound . Steel, on the other hand, costs less than a dollar per pound. Many analysts say that for carbon fiber to make it into widespread use in cars, the price will have to drop…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Asdjasdka

    • 1944 Words
    • 8 Pages

    For a very long period of human history, man depended on natural elements to make fibers for clothing. These were natural fibers. However, with the technological advances many manmade synthetic fibers were developed. Man-made fibers have two main categories: One that are made from natural products (cellulosic fibers) and the other that are synthesized from chemical compounds (non cellulosic polymer fibers). Rayon fiber is a natural-based material made from the cellulose of wood pulp or cotton fiber. In fact, they are…

    • 1944 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Plastic and Flame Retardants

    • 4670 Words
    • 30 Pages

    growing plastics use in developing regions, where per capita plastics consumption is still far below the developed…

    • 4670 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Plastic is a versatile and potentially indestructible material, which makes it ideal for a number of commercial and…

    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Eco Friendly Products

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Abstract: In the present scenario, the growing concerns among the people globally against the use of synthetic polymers, toxin liberating substances and non-biodegradable products, because of their hazardous after effects on environment and human health, re-established the needs of natural fibres to our society in terms of packaging and daily use products. Jute, the ligno-cellulosic biodegradable, natural bast fibre is known for decades as low cost packaging material. With increase in awareness for eco-friendly materials from sustainable resources, Jute sector started regaining its market both in traditional and diversified applications. However, for eco-compliance of Jute products and to increase the cost competitiveness of jute commodity items, efforts have been continuing to develop effective eco-friendly and cleaner process technologies. The paper presented encompasses brief description of three eco-process technologies developed by Indian Jute Industries’ Research Association.…

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays