At K 2025, LEONHARD KURZ will demonstrate its sustainable, high performing and scalable innovations, including Natural Fiber composites with PolyPropylene Fibers (NFPP), its in-house RECOSYS rPET, and EcoLayer FX.

Natural fiber as a lightweight and strong material

NFPP combines polypropylene with natural fibers such as flax or kenaf creates components that are up to 40% lighter than conventional plastic solutions, with the same stability and excellent formability.

NFPP.

NFPP allows new design possibilities in vehicle interiors.

In addition to weight reduction, NFPP offers good sound and heat insulation and a characteristic organic look, creating new design possibilities in vehicle interiors.

The manufacturing process for the NFPP solution is designed for series production: Under heat and pressure, the natural fiber mat, which is coated with PP fibers, is bonded to the decorative substrate to create a robust, recyclable end product.

At K 2025, KURZ, together with its partners Polyvlies and FRIMO Innovative Technologies, will demonstrate three different NFPP applications.

A decorated door element with a width of around 80 centimeters shows that even large-area components can be finished to a high standard and efficiently using the DecoPress process. The natural fiber mat used consists of equal parts recycled natural fiber and recycled polypropylene (rPP).

A second exhibit - an interior component - uses a natural fiber mat that contains a proportion of recycled NFPP elements. The result is a particularly sustainable material mix with a high-quality appearance.

As a third application, a cover component will be manufactured live at the stand of partner company WITTMANN. The natural fiber structure will be decorated on the front and back-injected on the rear, to meet both visual and structural requirements in an integrated process.

RECOSYS rPET

With its own take-back and recycling system RECOSYS, KURZ is well on its way to closing the material cycle and providing high-quality, single-type rPET granulate that supports sustainable applications.

KURZ will demonstrate how RECOSYS rPET serves as the basis for technical textiles used in vehicle interiors, with partners Farplas, Topp Textil, and Technofibres. This results in textile surfaces that blend harmoniously into the vehicle interior in terms of structure, feel, and appearance - while significantly improving the environmental balance.

KURZ's rPET granulate is suitable for applications such as seat covers, door panels, and trim moldings, and supports OEMs in implementing sustainable design approaches with high technical performance and meeting the requirements of the EU Recycling Directive for new vehicles. The first textiles produced are resource-efficient and represent an approach that demonstrates the state of development of recycled PET.

As part of the VDMA special show “The Power of Plastics”, KURZ will showcase the closed cycle from the raw material to the finished demonstrator.

EcoLayer FX

KURZ's EcoLayer FX technology enables high-quality surface decorations on substrates that are a combination of natural materials and plastic, such as talc combined with polypropylene, polypropylene with cellulose content, or limestone in combination with polypropylene.

EcoLayer FX.

The decorative layer is finer than a human hair and does not affect the recyclability of the components. This allows visually appealing designs to be realized without compromising environmental compatibility and processability.

At K fair, KURZ will be showcasing various EcoLayer FX designs that illustrate the use of polypropylene with natural additives in industrial practice. This gives OEMs and plastics processors new options for implementing functional and brand-defining surfaces with a more environmentally friendly approach, at the same high technical level as classic plastic solutions.