The state of composites: CW's JEC 2026 recap
From circularity and high-rate manufacturing to key trends that are building momentum, the CW editorial team tells a story of what they saw and where the composites industry may be headed.
Source | AEThion/JEC World
In early March, JEC World 2026 drew together more than 45,000 professional visits from 94 countries. This is not to mention its feature of more than 1,400 exhibitors — including 150-plus first-time participants — and 100-plus sessions with 200-plus speakers across three stages.
Wandering around those vast exhibitor halls was the CW editorial team, engaging in constructive conversations, seeking out interesting composites technologies and taking a measure of industry interest. All of these discussions and insights have been detailed in the following post-JEC articles:
- Circularity and biomaterials trends — Recycling technologies of all types continue to show momentum with new partnerships, startups and scale-up plans.
- AFP-RTM integration, new vitrimer prepreg, mapping AFP data, metal coated fiber in battery cases and more — A focus on what’s new and has the potential to open new opportunities and possibilities for composites.
- Innovations in high-rate composites manufacturing — As the aerospace sector gears up for a new single-aisle aircraft program and defense demand grows, the industry is shoring up processes to meet demand.
The CW team also sat down at the show to describe what they were seeing in real time. Listen to what they have to say in the videos below!
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