Sets Framework For Establishing Italian Facility
The first composite-bodied Boeing
787 hasn't flown yet... but the planemaker and others are already
thinking about how old Dreamliners will eventually be recycled.
Boeing and Alenia Aeronautica announced this week they are joining
forces to help establish Italy's first composite recycling
facility, which will be located in Southern Italy.
Together with partners Milled Carbon (based in Birmingham, UK)
Karborek (based in Puglia, Italy), and ENEA (Italian National
Agency for new Technologies Energy and the Environment), the two
companies have signed a letter of intent to apply their expertise
and work with academia to advance industry knowledge surrounding
the recycling of composite airplane parts into reusable materials
for manufacturing. Financial terms were not announced.
The composite recycling facility, which is expected to be
operational in mid- to late 2009, will be in Italy's Puglia region,
near the Alenia Aeronautica manufacturing center and its supply
chain production centers. When fully operational, the center is
expected to process an average of 1,000 metric tonnes (1,102 tons)
of composite scrap annually and add approximately 75 jobs to the
regional economy.
Over the longer term, Boeing and Alenia will work closely with
Italian industry and academia to develop additional markets for the
reuse of the carbon fiber, which could include automotive, civil
engineering, sporting goods, nautical and other industrial
applications in Italy and across Europe.
"High-value composite materials are playing an increasingly
significant role in aviation's ability to develop lighter, more
fuel efficient and environment friendly aircraft," said Billy
Glover, Boeing Commercial Airplanes managing director of
environmental strategy. "Through this agreement, we are proactively
developing technologies and capabilities today that will allow us
to responsibly recycle our precious resources, and help meet rising
demand for high-quality composite material."
Working collaboratively with Boeing, Milled Carbon has
demonstrated the ability, in a pilot industrial plant, to process
cured and uncured composite parts on a continual feed that extracts
high-quality carbon fibers. The recycled material potentially can
be used for noncritical structures such as interior linings, galley
and seat parts and tools that can benefit from stronger,
lighter-weight materials.
ENEA, the Italian Research Institute, has long worked with
Karborek to develop recycling process technologies for the recovery
of carbon and glass fiber from composite materials. ENEA and
Karborek each has separately developed prototypes of complementary
technology.
Boeing and Milled Carbon are both members of the Aircraft Fleet
Recycling Association (AFRA), an international nonprofit
organization dedicated to developing industry best practices for
the responsible recycling of end-of-service aircraft and their
parts. The new joint venture is also anticipated to become an AFRA
member and ultimately bolster the organization's capabilities in
the area of composite recycling.
Alenia Aeronautica S.p.A. is a major Boeing partner producing
787 composite fuselage barrel sections and the horizontal
stabilizer.
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