Dura Composites, founded in 1996 in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, makes glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) walkways, gratings, station platforms and trench covers for rail, power and industry. In June 2022 the EIC Accelerator selected it for a grant for "novel recycling for sustainable GRP composites in industry", according to the EIC's list of selected companies. No project for this award appears on CORDIS.
Dura's accounts for the year to March 2023, filed at Companies House, say it had won "a £2m grant to figure out how to commercialise the recycling of GRP within 2 years using a mechanical grinding method". Later accounts name Innovate UK as the funder and do not mention the EIC. By June 2025 the grant work "progressed very well", leaving the company with "new recycling/repurposing capabilities to convert waste GRP into d2 products". In April 2026 Dura rebranded around what it called "closing the loop on composite walkways".
Company file
- Legal entity
- Dura Composites Ltd, company no. 03266015, Clacton-on-Sea
- Incorporated
- 21 October 1996
- Products
- GRP grating, walkways, platforms, trench covers; d² low-carbon range
- IP
- 21 patents, 139 design registrations (company figures)
- Staff
- 122 on average (year to June 2025)
- Recognition
- Four King's Awards for Enterprise (company figure)
- EIC award
- greengrp, June 2022 cut-off, grant only
Where Dura Composites Stands Now
Dura says waste from its own manufacturing and end-of-life products is now "recovered, processed into feedstock and reintroduced directly into Dura's manufacturing process" at its Essex headquarters, and that it is "the only company able to provide the option to repurpose your product at the end of its use", according to its About page. It says its d² range has saved more than 5 million kg of CO₂. In 2026 it won the environment and sustainability award at the Railway Innovation Awards for the d² products.
"The grant provided by Innovate UK progressed very well leaving an exciting future for the company to use its new recycling/repurposing capabilities to convert waste GRP into d2 products."
Dura Composites, strategic report, year to June 2025The Technology: Grinding GRP Back Into Feedstock
GRP is glass fibre bound in resin. Dura's rebrand announcement says it is challenging the "long-standing assumptions that composite infrastructure must end its life as waste". Its accounts describe a mechanical grinding method, and its website says the recovered material goes into new d² products. It has not published how much recycled content its products contain or how much waste it has processed.
What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The EIC award and the Innovate UK grant cover the same goal: commercial GRP recycling. Dura's accounts document the Innovate UK grant and its results. CORDIS has no grant agreement for the EIC award, so whether it was signed, and how it relates to the Innovate UK money, cannot be established from public records.
- EIC grant agreementAbsentNo CORDIS record.
- Recycling capabilityDeliveredPer accounts, Innovate UK.
- Closed-loop productsAnnouncedRebrand, April 2026.
- Recycled volumesUnverifiedNot published.
The Money
Dura is profitable. Turnover rose from £17.2 million in the year to March 2022 to £20.0 million a year later, reached £22.0 million over a 15-month period to June 2024 and was £20.3 million in the year to June 2025, when it made £1.95 million. The directors said higher-margin rail products had a slower year. Grants recognised rose to £1.06 million in the latest year.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
Whether Dura signed an EIC grant agreement, whether the £2 million Innovate UK grant funded the EIC-selected project, how much recycled GRP Dura now uses and how many customers return end-of-life products are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
Dura's products go into rail, power and other national infrastructure, where owners face pressure to report lower embodied carbon, the company says. The EIC picked Dura's recycling idea. The public record shows the UK funded its development, while the EU award leaves no trace.
What the award promised
Novel recycling for sustainable GRP composites in industry.
What the record shows
A £2 million Innovate UK grant, a recycling capability and a closed-loop rebrand, with no EIC project record.
The Verdict
Recycling built, EU role unclear
Dura did build what the EIC selected it for, and says so in its accounts. The accounts credit UK money, and the EU award itself cannot be traced.
Dura Composites and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
