Bio-circular Carbon Fiber
Toray Carbon Fibers Europe is committed to creating more sustainable products for its customers and to reducing the impact of its manufacturing activities on the environment.
Toray Carbon Fibers Europe has recently introduced bio-circular raw material-based carbon fibers, produced in France, with ISCC PLUS certification.
Bio-circular Torayca® carbon fibers are suitable for use in a wide range of applications, from Sports & Leisure to Industry and Aerospace, offering identical properties to standard petroleum-based carbon fibers in terms of durability, rigidity and lightness.
These new bio-circular grades provide our European customers with the opportunity to create more sustainable products with a reduced carbon footprint and locally-sourced carbon fiber made in France.
Our mother company, Toray Industries has also obtained the ISCC PLUS certification, enabling our customers to benefit from a reliable supply chain and a large choice of bio-circular carbon fibers.
Toray Carbon Fibers Europe is ISCC PLUS Certified
The International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) is a voluntary certification program that guarantees the use of raw materials sourced from biomass or recycled materials. The ISCC PLUS certificate also ensures that there is complete traceability at all stages of our Torayca® carbon fiber manufacturing process, from our polyacrylonitrile precursor to our carbon fiber.
Toray Carbon Fibers Europe has been approved to manufacture carbon fiber derived from biomass and recycled raw materials since the end of 2023.
Why Choose the ISCC PLUS Certification?
At the Toray Group, we aim to build a new material eco-system in line with our Sustainability Vision for 2050. As one of the most widespread and recognizable certifications, the Toray Group chose to obtain the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) as part of its aim to create a more sustainable future for the composite material industry.
In choosing ISCC PLUS bio-circular carbon fibers, our customers will be able to reduce the carbon footprint of their products and contribute towards making more sustainable society.
What is the Mass Balance Approach?
The mass balance approach tracks the percentage of circular and bio-based raw materials used to manufacture a product.
By integrating the mass balance approach into our existing process, we ensure the traceability of the bio-circular raw materials at all stages of the manufacturing process.
This method enables us to certify a precise quantity of carbon fiber as being produced with bio-circular raw materials.
As a result, customers purchasing ISCC PLUS certified carbon fiber are able to reduce the carbon footprint of their products.
What is Bio-circular Acrylonitrile?
Bio-circular acrylonitrile (AN) is the raw material used to manufacture our bio-circular carbon fiber grades. It offers a more sustainable alternative to petroleum-based AN. The ISCC PLUS certification guarantees the bio-circular origin of the AN.
According to the ISCC standards, there are three categories of materials that can be used to produce an ISCC certified product (biomass, bio-circular and circular). The bio-circular category includes materials such as forestry residue, tall oil and used cooking oils (UCO). The Toray Group chose to use bio-circular AN as this category of materials does not compete with animal or human food supply chains.
