Aircraft recycling – more research needed

With some 1000 heavy airliners in need of disposal each year and modern planes being made from compounds instead of just aluminium, there is a need for more research and communication between the recycling and aviation industries.

This is one of the messages to come out of the first International Symposium on Aircraft Recycling taking place in Stuttgart, Germany.

Until now, the bigger parts of aircrafts were produced with aluminum, but a modern Boeing 787 or Airbus A350 XWB is now made of compounds.

Materials used during manufacturing include short and long carbon fiber composites, textiles and carpet, landing gears, electronic devices, titanium and steel alloys and other parts.

For these compounds, recycling processes are not yet implemented or available. Also, there is a lack of markets buying these recycled resources.

Estimates from the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA) are that over the next 20 years, 12,000 airplanes worth $1.3 trillion will come to the end of their service life.

Also, currently 80-85% of an aircraft is recycled. AFRA aims to increase this number to 90% by the end of 2016.

Professor Dr Joerg Woidasky of Hochschule Pforzheim University, said: “The field of aircraft recycling is developing very fast at the moment.”

The question of an environmentally sound dismantlement of aircraft presents itself and the aviation industry is anxious to set minimal standards for scrapping aircraft, according to the event organizers.