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European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is giving composites a second life through the repurposing of thermoplastic. This technological solution demonstrates Airbus investement in improving a circular economy. A consortium has successfully been recycling thermoplastic composite aircraft parts, including partner Toray, which achieved an Innovation Award for the process.
What’s been occurring is that the consortium acquired end-of-life Airbus A380 engine pylon faring covers and transformed the parts to new equivalents for the hugely popular Airbus A320neo. This has demonstrated how partners can centrally collaborate on the repurposing of these parts and encourage innovation for composite recycling.
Repurposed For The Airbus A320neo
While it is usually more difficult to repurpose some composites, this initiative has been spearheaded by Airbus, Daher, Tarmac Aerosave, and Toray Advanced Composites, partnering to develop an industry-scale process to repurpose such composites for other aircraft.
Aircraft manufacturers increasingly look to source composite materials as these are lighter and will subsequently reduce overall fuel burn. By identifying methods where they can reuse composite materials, results in reduced waste going to the scrap heap, and encourages local material sourcing. It also means that using older parts costs less and consumes less energy than it would take to fabricate new parts.
Toray, a partner in this initative was awarded a prestigious Composites Innovation Award by JEC for its involvement in the repurposing of the Airbus A380 engine cowl. It was acknowledged by Isabell Gradert, Airbus VP Central Research and Technology, who noted:
“We exist in a complex aerospace supply chain in a hyper-connected world. If a company comes up with a solution on its own, that’s a great story. If an entire industry does it together, that’s transformative, since it can lead to something bigger!”
How It Works
Toray Advanced Composites developed the original composite that was used on the Airbus A380 pylons, then redeveloped the recyclable thermoplastic, enabling a reshape and reuse, leading to reduced material waste. This was also supported by TARMAC Aerosave, which provided the end-of-life A380 source parts and initiated the project.
Through this, it enabled the diversion of high-value assets that otherwise would have been destined for the scrap heap. Daher, an aircraft manufacturer and industrial services provider, then manufactured the Airbus A320neo components with the recycled material. They have implemented this into their industrial process at scale.
Airbus then scientifically ensured that the steps of the thermoplastic reuse enabled a framework that would bring all the above partners together. The integration of the solution was put to the test on an Airbus A320neo before being rolled out for commercial deployment.
The Airbus A380 was manufacturered by Airbus from 2003 up until 2021, and while the double-decker aircraft was initially popular, many airlines now have retired the type citing high fuel costs, with just a handful of operators remaining (All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, British Airways, 
Emirates (largest operator), Etihad Airways, Global Airlines, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Qantas, 
Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines (launch customer)
Multinational Manufacturer: A Brief History Of Airbus
The European plane manufacturer has grown to be one of the largest in the world.
Re-Manufactured The A380 Parts
This innovation of the thermoplastic Airbus A380 engine cowl, being repurposed to a smaller A320neo engine cowl, is indistinguishable when compared to a standard new panel, which could enable the scalable introduction and application of such a retrofit with recycled parts. Airbus will continue to gather data from this initiative to understand if these components can be scaled up and maximise material recovery.
The circular economy is a movement that optimises the reuse of products, components, or materials while at the same time ensuring their integrity can contribute to new technologies or developments. The integrity of these products is key to ensuring their intended lifecycle is appropriate, and as a result, their reuse can minimise waste, emissions, or energy consumption.
While composites can be difficult to recycle, this consortium continues to investigate new innovative approaches where they understand the potential to reduce the current reliance on virgin materials, which are costly and energy-intensive. This now prize-winning development recognises how working together across the Airbus supply chain can help give a second life to thermoplastic composite parts, and has transformed the retired Airbus A380 engine cowl into something of value for the ever-popular Airbus A320neo.
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