The research and development behind natural-fiber reinforcements for plastics is still heavily relegated to major universities-but big OEMs and small manufacturers are showing more interest in these materials, given their potential for lowering life-cycle costs. The directions of recent research were indicated by presentations at two recent SPE events: last September's Automotive Composites Conference and last month's Global Plastics Environmental Conference (GPEC). Some background ideas and notable findings from conference papers on natural fibers are summarized below.