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It's Just String & Glue. This is a newsletter about composites, the strings, the glues, and the business.


Sustainable Composite Materials, A Roadmap to a Circular Economy
#composites, #sustainability, #circulareconomy, #roadmap, #bookwriting I got the proofs for my book last week, and over the weekend I put together the index and got it back to my publisher. That is the last task I have to do before it goes to print. I did look over the proofs, found a couple of typos (best to find those now) and suggested moving some figures around so that they line up with the text better, so now it is up to my publisher. The book is 200 pages long, so it
3 days ago9 min read


Fireproof Carbon Composites and Using Composites to Reduce CO2 Emissions
#composites, #sustainability, #greenhousegasreduction, #fireproofcomposites, #fibers I saw a couple of interesting tidbits in Composites World this week that piqued my curiosity, so I thought I would dig in a little deeper and write about them and their potential impact on not only sustainability but also the composites business in general. DEECOM Recycled Fireproof Carbon Composite I’m going to start off with one that intrigued me because of a couple of things. First, what
Feb 47 min read


Read Any Good Books Lately?
#composites, #textiles, #naturalfibers, #bioresins, #historyofcomposites I read a really good book this last week about the history of textiles. The title of the book is “The Fabric of Civilization, How Textiles Made the World” by Virginia Postrel. This book is a number one bestseller that my wife bought for all of us in the family to read. It was recommended by John and Hank Green, the Vlog Brothers who also are the creators of the Crash Course series of educational YouTu
Jan 207 min read


A Bit of Sustainability News and Some Other Stuff
#composites, #sustainability, #rotorsails, #environmentalproductdeclaration, #recycling There has been a bit going on since my last post in 2025, so I thought this week I would catch everyone up with the sustainability initiatives across not only the composites industry itself, but in industries and sectors of the economy that are making heavy use and initial use of composites. Anemoi Rotor Sails on Union Maritime Chemical Tankers – CW 12/26/2025 First I want to talk a bit ab
Jan 148 min read


This Week’s News about Recycling and End-of-Life Composites
#composites, #sustainability, #recycling, #end_of_life_composites, #thermolysis This week I’m going to make my newsletter just a bit shorter than what I did last week with all of the pictures of sailboats that use recycled or natural fibers for primary structure. There are a couple of fairly newsworthy things that have happened just in the last few weeks that I want to focus on this week. And I want to also let everyone know that I am going to take a couple of weeks off wri
Dec 3, 20256 min read


A Few More Tidbits in Composites Sustainability News
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins I received my November Issue of the Composites World magazine (electronically of course) this week and as usual it had a couple of interesting developments in the world of composite materials sustainability, one of which is sort of fun – if you like water sports. So, I thought I would write about these and a couple of other things that I came across in my information feed about composites. A
Nov 12, 20255 min read


Collection of Composites Sustainability Tidbits from Last Two Weeks
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins Since this is supposed to be a “newsletter” I thought I would collect some tidbits of news on the composites sustainability front that have come across my feed in the last couple of weeks. I did want to get a couple of state of the art posts done, so the last two weeks I haven’t been keeping everyone up with the latest news. And there has been some news to keep up with, especially in the rec
Nov 5, 20256 min read


Investors are Interested and Taking Notice of the Recycled Composites Business
#composites, #sustainability, #recycling, #recycledfiber, #recycledresin I have talked in this space about composites sustainability,...
Sep 30, 20256 min read


Recyclable Wind Turbine Blades have Arrived
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins I saw articles this week in two of the industry...
Sep 10, 20256 min read


The International Conference on Composite Materials – And What’s Coming Soon
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins I gave my paper at the International Conference on...
Aug 13, 20257 min read


Some Encouraging News in Carbon Fiber Composites Recycling – and a Few Other Things
#composites, #sustainability, #recycling, #aceticacid, #NREL, #fibers, #resins I saw something really interesting that was just reported...
Jul 23, 20258 min read


Some Recycling Updates for the Composites Industry – Wind Turbine Blades
#composites, #sustainability, #recycling, #fibers, #resins, #windenergy This week I thought I would give everyone some updates in the...
Jun 17, 20255 min read


My Reflections on SAMPE 2025 Indianapolis
#composites, #sustainability, #carbonfiber, #SAMPE2025, #compositesindustry As promised with my last post, I was at SAMPE in Indianapolis...
May 28, 20256 min read


An Update on Carbon Fiber Recycling – Continuous Fibers No Less
#composites, #sustainability, #recycling, #recycledfiber, #carbonfiber I have talked about how difficult it is to recycle composites –...
Apr 28, 20257 min read


Sustainability – A Look at Energy Efficiency in Composites Manufacturing
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibermanufacture, #resinmanufacture This week I thought I would touch...
Apr 7, 202510 min read


Some Good News on the Recycling Front and Other Updates
#composites, #sustainability, #recycling, #fibers, #resins I heard about this a few days before it was announced at JEC World in Paris. ...
Mar 17, 20257 min read


Part 3 of PFAS and Microplastics – Polyester Resin Chemistry
#composites, #polyesterresin, #styrene, #phthalicacid, #glycols, #resins This is a continuation of what I talked about last week but...
Mar 3, 20257 min read


A Bit Deeper Dive into Recycled Material Certifications
#composites, #recycling, #certification, #sustainability, #recycledfiber, #recycledresins I really was not able to cover the entire...
Jan 20, 20255 min read


Can you use Recycled Carbon Fiber in a Racing Sailboat? Why of Course!!
#composites, #sustainability, #fibers, #resins, #biobased, #naturalfiber, #plantbased As most of you already know, I am fairly passionate...
Dec 16, 20245 min read


Flying Cars? Are we in an Episode of the Jetsons?
#composites, #flyingcars, #urbanairmobility, #carbonfiber, #gyroplane I saw something really fun in Composites World this week. There is...
Dec 9, 20246 min read

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