Closed-Loop Recycling and Remanufacturing of Polymeric Aircraft Parts

The aviation industry is facing the challenge of reducing fossil fuels and emissions. Fuel efficiency is improved by making efficient powerplant systems and lighter aircraft. Modern passenger aircraft utilize polymeric and polymeric composite materials to achieve lighter structures without compromising strength. The European Union already has legislation to prevent landfilling and to increase the use of recyclable materials in the automotive industry. While older-generation aircraft, made mainly from metallic materials, are easily dismantled and recycled into other uses, such a process does not yet exist for aircraft made from composite materials. In the coming years, the industry will have to answer the question of how retired polymeric composite aircraft structures are to be recycled. One solution to increase the life cycle of polymeric and polymeric composite parts would be closed-loop recycling. In this paper, a perspective of the closed-loop recycling of polymeric aircraft parts is discussed. The technical aspects of recyclability and the different business models for the remanufacture of a finger pinch shroud certified for use in Airbus A350-900 passenger aircraft are investigated. The results show that closed-loop recycling is possible for polymeric aircraft parts. Future studies could include studying an LCA between virgin and recycled materials for a certain part.