LYON—The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published a report on aircraft dismantling and recycling, making recommendations on how to make an aircraft’s end-of-life greener.
Rules that would govern that phase, such as a recycling mandate, have yet to be created. Meanwhile, an average of 800 aircraft are expected to retire annually at the end of this decade, up from 650, EASA says, quoting an Oliver Wyman 2022 forecast. And more than 30% of the current fleet in Europe is expected to retire over the next 10 years. Therefore, and given the gradual expansion of the EASA’s remit, the proposals may be seen as a basis for future regulation.
After disassembly, numerous parts can be reused. Then, an aircraft enters the waste sector. Materials can be recycled, used for energy recovery (i.e. burned), or sent to landfill. The recycled proportion at Tarmac Aerosave, a leading dismantling specialist based in southwest France, stands at 92%.
In general, the report’s authors say, the MRO business is usually driven by time pressure, safety, and reliability concerns, and sustainability is usually not yet a main topic. MRO organizations are seen as complying with waste management rules, but not broadly extending additional measures to improve sustainability.
In aircraft design, a requirement for considering the recovery of materials when aircraft are scrapped has yet to be written. Another challenge is that aircraft and engine manufacturers do not have to list the materials in each component, the treatment that can be used in recovery, or associated hazards.
EASA is thus recommending that aircraft be included in the upcoming legislation on eco-design intended as a revision to the EU Circular Economy Action Plan. The authors say the legislature should take care to avoid waste leakage, such as indirectly encouraging dismantling activities in less environmentally conscious countries.
Eco-design should include “design for decommissioning” principles, they recommend. Aircraft should be designed in a way that their materials and parts are easy to disassemble, and either reused or recycled. Priority should be given to those materials that are easily recyclable in the production phase.
Additionally, the principle of “Extended Producer Responsibility” in the European Waste Directive should be extended to aircraft. This is especially important because of the increasing percentage of carbon fiber, the authors say. No commercially viable solution is available for carbon fiber recycling, they say.
