AVK announces 2025 Innovation Awards for fiber-reinforced plastics

The German Federation of Reinforced Plastics (AVK, Frankfurt, Germany) announces the 2025 winners of the Innovation Award for fiber-reinforced plastics (FRPs), awarded to companies, institutes and their partners for outstanding composites innovations in three categories:

• Products and Applications
• Processes and Procedures
• Research and Science.

A jury of experts comprising engineers, scientists and trade journalists has evaluated the submissions in these three categories based on criteria such as degree of innovation, degree of implementation and sustainability.

The awards for 2025 are as follows.

Products and Applications Category

1st Place — Zeisberg Carbon GmbH
► 3D-Formwork

Believed to be Germany’s largest 3D printer for fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites, this system, built by Zeisberg Carbon, produces laminating tools measuring up to 6,000 × 2,000 × 3,000 millimeters, as well as finished components, prototypes and — as a new approach to the Industry 4.0 concept in the construction industry — molds for the production of concrete components. 

This 3D-Formwork is printed automatically, layer by layer, from recycled plastic, enabling a high degree of innovation in prefabricated component factories or for in situ concrete construction. Architectural freedom can be reimagined because 3D-Formwork creates individual façade elements for serially manufactured buildings, such as bridges. Thus, infrastructure can be built aesthetically but also quickly. 

2nd Place — INVENT GmbH with partners Nord-Micro, KOHPA GmbH ► Carbon Heating System (CHS) for aircraft cabins

INVENT has developed an innovative CHS for aircraft where the heating function is integrated directly into fiber-reinforced composite pipes using conductive carbon fiber. All development steps, including endurance testing (>3,300 hours) and DO-160 qualification by laboratory partner Nord-Micro, have been completed.

The system uses the existing cabin air distribution system to replace conventional metal heaters or bleed air heating, saving weight, fuel and emissions. Passengers benefit from clean air without oil contamination. CHS is reported to be a milestone for electric cabin systems and sustainable aircraft architecture. INVENT is now ready as a series manufacturer with partner Nord-Micro.

3rd Place — 3D|CORE GmbH & Co. KG
► 3D|CORE FR Sealing

This polymer-mineral foam offers an efficient, cost-effective and weight-saving solution for fire protection in lightweight structures, particularly in the transport industry. Fire protection for sandwich constructions used in trains, ships and vehicles has traditionally required manual application of additional glass fiber layers and use of additional quantities of fire-modified resins. This significantly increased manufacturing cost and component weight.

3D|CORE GmbH & Co. KG is launching 3D|CORE FR Sealing, an innovative fire protection foam that is easily applied by spraying or rolling. The system provides effective fire protection without adding unnecessary weight. The foam has been extensively tested and meets the stringent requirements of the IMO FTP Code 2010 maritime standards and the European standard for rail vehicles EN 45545-2, achieving the requirements of the highest hazard level HL3. The two-component system consists of a medium-viscosity foam and an activator that controls the processing time. Chemical reactions and delamination are avoided by precisely matching the polymer components to the resin system of the component. 

Processes and Procedures Category

1st Place — Secara
► Chemical recycling process for reinforced engineering polymers

Secara has developed a process that enables technical plastics — such as polyamides, polycarbonates and polyesters such as PBT — to be recycled efficiently and with minimal loss of value. With a global annual production of around 15 million tonnes, these key materials have previously been mostly incinerated due to a lack of recycling options.

Secara’s scalable process also enables the recycling of old, glass fiber-reinforced and mixed plastic waste. Pilot plants are already demonstrating how Secara’s process depolymerizes plastics into high-purity monomers that are chemically identical to fossil raw materials and can be seamlessly integrated into existing value chains. The process already saves up to 70% in CO_₂ emissions, but using renewable energies, it is possible to produce completely decarbonized monomers. Secara is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Social Fund as part of the EXIST program.

2nd Place — Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research (IPF) with partner Elbflorace Formula Student Team TU Dresden

► Design and manufacturing of spatial CFRP structural frame based on flat TFP preforms

A complex, high-load 3D carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite wishbone bracket for a Formula Student racing vehicle was produced using tailored fiber placement (TFP). The TFP process allows the reinforcement fibers to be deposited variably axially, enabling spatial optimization of fiber positioning and alignment. This means that an optimized fiber placement pattern can be created for each segment and manufactured using a TFP system.

A topology-optimized, additively manufactured titanium wishbone bracket served as a reference. Topology optimization and segmentation for a CFRP wishbone bracket were first carried out based on the corresponding installation space and specifications. After consolidating the preforms in a multipart silicone mold, a CFRP wishbone bracket with a mass of only 183 grams was produced. This is ≈40% lighter than the titanium component and can still safely transmit loads of up to 5 kilonewtons.

3rd Place — Amiblu Germany GmbH
► Recycling of GFRP grinding dust waste

At its Trollenhagen site, Amiblu Germany manufactures around 300 kilometers of glass fiber-reinforced (GFRP) pipes per year in nominal diameters ranging from DN 200 to DN 2450 using a centrifugal casting process. This process produces grinding dust as a waste product. With the help of an in-house developed technology, it is now possible to return more than 90% of approximately 220 tonnes of grinding dust per year to the production process, saving raw materials and reducing waste disposal costs. Recycling the dust into new products is a significant step toward sustainable GFRP pipe production.

The plant has been in series operation since summer 2024. The process not only significantly reduces waste, but also saves around 4% of the calcium carbonate raw material.

Science and Research Category

1st Place — EDAG Engineering GmbH with partners INVENT GmbH, Fraunhofer IWU and Applus + Rescoll

► Durable, thermally detachable fiber composite structures

The EU-funded RECREATE project has developed a modular system that enables the circular use of CFRP structures. Its core components are thermally detachable adhesive bonds that enable components to be separated without damage by applying specific temperatures without compromising strength during operation. Combined with standardized profiles and connecting elements, this creates a modular system that enables repair, reuse, remanufacturing and single-type recycling. Through the practical implementation of design for circularity, this solution addresses key strategies of the circular economy while creating a basis for new business models for applications from modular vehicle frames to industrial secondary uses.

2nd Place — Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (IPT)
► Tape-REx recycling process for thermoplastic UD tapes

Fraunhofer IPT has developed a recycling technology that enables components made of unidirectional (UD) thermoplastic composite tape to be unwound at the end of their life cycle. What makes this technology unique is that the recovered recyclate is then also available as UD tape, retaining the fiber length and orientation as well as the matrix. 

These properties represent an enormous improvement over conventional recycled products in which the fibers are generally recovered as disordered short or long fibers. The retained-length recycled UD tapes can be processed in conventional manufacturing processes such as automated tape laying/fiber placement (ATL/AFP) and hot pressing in the same way as newly produced virgin material tapes.

3rd Place — Faserinstitut Bremen E.V. (FIBRE) with partner Saxon Textile Research Institute (STFI)
► Highly integrated hybrid rCF organosheets and thermoforming for contoured aerostructures

In the LuFo VI-2 project — Highly Integrated Organic Sheets (HIOS) FKZ: 20E2116A; 20E2116 — FIBRE and its project partner STFI developed a resource-efficient process chain from semi-finished products to components with a closed-box structure, local reinforcements and variable thickness where a spoiler segment served as an example.

STFI developed a quasi-continuous interval hot pressing process for manufacturing organosheets with variable local thickness based on nonwovens made from recycled carbon fibers (rCF). Local reinforcements were integrated during the manufacturing process. FIBRE developed a complementary thermoforming process, including tools, that allows the closed-box structures to be manufactured in a resource-efficient manner. To this end, thermoforming and joining of the components were integrated into a single process step.