More sustainable car seats without compromising performance? The solution might come from the blooming flax fields of Belgium and France.
“To be in the driving seat” is an idiom well suited to describe Sabelt, Italian maker of performance car seats used by some of the most well-known car brands in the world. The company has recently announced its ongoing work in collaboration with Bcomp, specialist in sustainable lightweighting solutions. The developments are taking place within the “Carbogreen Project”, which is part of the company’s environmental mission and is aimed at developing seating systems for sports cars made of renewable, and/or low environmental impact materials.
The use of natural fibres like flax in the automotive industry is not a new concept, but the trend has been growing in recent years due to the need for reducing carbon emissions and finding more sustainable alternatives to non-renewable materials.
The Carbogreen Project is an important initiative for Sabelt, aiming to reduce the company’s environmental impact by introducing more sustainable materials in its seats. In collaboration with Bcomp, Sabelt is currently validating the use of flax fibres to make a seat with natural materials. Flax fibre can replace carbon fibre or fibreglass with renewable materials and significantly reduce CO2 emissions without compromising performance.
Exploring the potential of Bcomp’s ampliTex™ technical natural fibre fabrics, Sabelt has created a prototype performance car seat using RTM processes. The prototype seat will be exhibited at Bcomp’s booth 5A45 during JEC World 2023 in Paris, one of the world’s largest composite trade shows.
Sabelt’s commitment to sustainability doesn’t stop there. The company is also exploring the implementation of powerRibs™ reinforcement grid and thermoplastic ampliTex™ which are more easily recyclable at the end of the vehicle’s life and help reduce environmental impact from the seat system production. Moving towards an environmentally sustainable future in the automotive sector must be a global common goal, and Sabelt is proud to not only actively commit to this end, but also take the lead and collaborate with companies sharing that vision.
