Elium® thermoplastic resin for recyclable composite boats
Elium® resin can be used for many key parts of a boat, such as the hull, deck, hull counter-mold, hatches, and floors. Thanks to several long-standing technical collaborations, notably with the Neo Sailing Technologies racing team and more recently with the Beneteau team, Elium® resin has demonstrated performance characteristics that are perfectly suited to the demands of sailing, with the added bonus of recyclability. In addition, Elium resin® can also be used to manufacture composite molds, offering a real recycling solution when boats reach the end of their life or are no longer in use.
- Asia Pacific
- Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- North America
How does Elium resin enable boat recycling?
Elium® x Beneteau: the first recyclable sailboat in series production
The result of close collaboration between Arkema and Beneteau, the Oceanis Yacht 60 is the brand's first model to be mass-produced using Elium®, Arkema's recyclable thermoplastic resin. This major innovation makes it possible to manufacture a hull with unchanged performance and comfort, while paving the way for true circularity thanks to the depolymerization of the resin at the end of its life.
Most end-of-life boats are abandoned in sheds, moored in ship graveyards or sunk, causing irreversible damage.
Our Elium® resin allows to make recyclable thermoplastic composites. It is perfectly suited for building more durable and recyclable boats at the end of their life. Discover the secrets of the recycling process in the video on the right.
Trusted partners turning recyclability into industrial reality
Arkema, with its Elium® resin, is joining forces with five partners to accelerate the circular economy in the marine industry. The key players in this alliance are:
- Groupe Beneteau - global manufacturer of sailboats and motorboats
- Veolia - world leader in waste management and environmental services
- Composite Recycling - pioneer in composite waste recycling and inventor of an innovative thermolysis technology
- Owens Corning - expert in glass fibre reinforcements
- Chomarat - specialist in technical textiles and reinforcements for composites
The thermolysis technology developed by Composite Recycling enables glass fibres and Elium® resin to be separated and recycled. This innovative process opens up new opportunities for the manufacture of new boats, as well as finding applications in other sectors such as the automotive and wind power industries.
Elium® resin: towards a circular economy for the nautical industry
At the METSTRADE 2025 trade show, the industrial alliance bringing together Arkema, Groupe Beneteau, Veolia, Composite Recycling, Owens Corning, and Chomarat was named “Sustainability Project of the Year.” Thanks to Elium® recyclable thermoplastic resin, boats can now be built, dismantled, and recycled: the hull and its fibers are recovered and reintroduced into the manufacturing process. This is a major step forward, transforming composite waste into reusable raw materials—a concrete model of circularity for more sustainable boating.
more about the circular economy applied to boating.
The Northern Light shipyard in Italy has also built a range of small, lightweight sailboats whose hull, deck and structure are made entirely of Elium® resin, natural fibers and recycled carbon.
Read Northern Light interview
We are offering something new, basing the design of our boats on recyclability.”