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Hit the highway with hemp
May 20, 2026

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Hit the highway with hemp

Whether it’s hemp, bamboo, or recycled cotton textiles: natural fibers can be turned in a surprisingly stable material – if the right binder holds them together. In this conversation, BASF fiber experts Dr. Thorsten Habeck and Shengzhong Zhou, PhD, explain how a BASF solution enables robust fiber composites and where we encounter them in everyday life. Here you can listen to the interview in our podcast.  

What’s so exciting about fibers – why are companies investing in them?

Thorsten Habeck: Fibers are lightweight and widely available – and in the case of natural fibers, renewable. It gets really interesting when you “upgrade” them into an engineered material: no longer soft like a nonwoven, but stiff like a panel – while still being easy to form.

Dr. Thorsten Habeck is Business Director Dispersions for Fiberbonding EMEA at BASF.
Dr. Thorsten Habeck, Business Director Dispersions for Fiberbonding EMEA at BASF. 
Shengzhong Zhou, Business Director for BASF’s Adhesives & Fiber Bonding division in Asia Pacific
Shengzhong Zhou is Business Director for BASF’s Adhesives and Fiber Bonding division in Asia Pazific.

Where do consumers encounter fiber composites?

Shengzhong Zhou: In cars, fiber composites can show up in interior components such as door panels or dashboards. Furniture is another interesting area, especially for lightweight parts with curved shapes. And there are applications like storage products, clothes hangers, or suitcases. 

Which solution does BASF offer for natural fiber composites? 

TH: We have developed the water‑based binder Acrodur® to help natural fiber composites become strong enough to replace traditional materials like plastic. It works like a specialized “glue” that connects fibers and turns them into strong, durable materials.

Which fibers work best for this approach?

SZ: We work with different fiber types – for example hemp and bamboo, but also fibers made from textile scraps containing cotton. Depending on the application, recycled fibers such as recycled PET can also play a role. The advantage is flexibility: the concept can be adapted to regional raw‑material streams.

Graphic shows car parts which can be produced with natural fibers and Acrodur.
Natural fibers enable the production of stable lightweight car parts.
Composites made of natural fibers.
Acrodur® binders transform fibers into stable composites.

What are the benefits for Acrodur?

TH: One key point is that it’s water based, which helps keep odor and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) low during processing. So, it can support better interior air quality compared with some more traditional binder systems. Acrodur natural fiber composites have low density but still offer good strength and stiffness: For the same performance, you can often use less material and so lighter material.

Why is Acrodur a sustainable solution?  

SZ: Acrodur penetrates fiber structures very well. That makes high fiber content possible – often around 70 to 90 percent natural fiber in the composite. So, you need less fossil-based raw materials. Added benefits like lightweight design: This is crucial in automotive, for example, where reducing weight can improve overall efficiency. Especially for electric cars, where the battery system adds significant weight compared with conventional cars.  

Electric car which is being charged. 
Lightweight design is key for electric cars. 

Acrodur natural fiber composites can have negative CO2 emissions. How is this possible?

TH: Natural fibers store carbon while they grow. For example, hemp can retain around 1.5 kilograms of CO2 per kilogram of harvested fiber. Since the composites typically contain about 75 to 90 percent fiber, that stored biogenic carbon makes a big difference. The binder itself is not carbon-negative, of course, but when you look at the whole composite, the high fiber content can bring the overall material to at least carbon-neutral — and in some cases even better, depending on the full life-cycle setup.

In 2025, the Future Chair built from bamboo fibre and Acrodur won the Golden Axe China award for innovation and design. Will it go into mass production?

SZ: Yes, we do have a business plan to move toward mass production. Right now, we are still fine-tuning certain aspects, such as the shape or thickness. Our target markets for this product are Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. So, we are moving in that direction, and it is a very exciting example of how this material can become a real consumer product.

Picture of the blue Future Chair.
The Future Chair was created in collaboration with Chinese designer brand XUE. 

Dr. Thorsten Habeck has served as Business Director, Fiber Bonding Europe, Middle East & Africa at BASF since April 2021. His career at BASF includes leadership roles in strategic procurement, marketing, global key account management, and manufacturing. He earned his PhD in Chemistry from Kiel University and began his career at BASF in 1995 in R&D.

Shengzhong Zhou, PhD, serves as Business Director for BASF’s Adhesives & Fiber Bonding division in Asia Pacific. He was awarded a PhD in Chemistry by the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London in 2011. That same year, Zhou commenced his career with BASF, and for over a decade he has held various leadership roles spanning research, sales, and marketing. He holds a Master’s degree in Polymer Materials Processing Engineering from Tongji University, Shanghai, and a Bachelor’s degree in Polymer Material Science and Engineering from Nanjing University of Technology in China.