Aviation Circularity Consortium launched with six members
The new alliance will engage with airlines, regulators, OEMs and suppliers to explore the acceleration of decarbonisation through high-value circularity in heavy industry supply chains.
Six aviation stakeholder groups from across the world have launched The Aviation Circularity Consortium (ACC), an alliance of organisations on a joint mission to accelerate supply chain decarbonisation by catalysing a circular economy model that creates value from the 8,000 end-of-life retired aircraft housed in boneyards around the world.
“This model bridges the gap between unused materials from retired aircraft and the growing demand from manufacturing industries for high-quality resources, and enables permanent emissions reductions in the global supply chain,” reads the release.
Nandina REM, Jamco America, and Qantas are joined by Sumitomo Corporation Asia & Oceania, Titan Leasing, and Vaupell as founding Organisations.
The alliance is borne out of the growing opportunity that decommissioned aircraft present as a new source of valuable circular materials, as well as addresses the significant waste pollution challenges to the shrinking legal boneyards around the world. An estimated 8,000 retired aircraft are parked in deserts, jungles, and storage yards globally, with 11,000 estimated to come in the next 10 years. Meanwhile, high-value materials like aluminium and carbon fibre – which makes up the majority of aircraft components – will continue to see exponential demand especially from industries driving the green transition.
Embarking on a true cross-sector collaboration, the ACC approach will be two-pronged. First, member companies will work together and engage closely with OEMs and regulators to develop an implementation roadmap for the certification of these reclaimed materials for use in aviation products and other critical industries in the green transition. The roadmap is slated for publication in late 2024.
Second, Nandina REM will lead engagement with financial institutions towards the development of sustainability-linked financial products that will support supply chain adoption of the roadmap. Recently debuting at this year’s Singapore Airshow, Nandina REM had launched industry-grade carbon fibre material reclaimed from end-of-life aircrafts and reprocessed to aviation specification.
Karina Cady, CEO, Nandina REM, said, “The interest in circular aviation materials garnered during the Singapore Airshow demonstrates a huge opportunity to raise circularity as one of the key strategies to accelerate decarbonisation in the global supply chain. Achieving this requires collaborative effort across industry stakeholders from all fronts – manufacturers, airlines, and regulators – to bring their unique expertise and resources to the table. Today’s launch is crucial in building such a collaborative industry ecosystem working towards enabling high-value circularity in the global supply chain.”
Andrew Parker, chief sustainability officer, Qantas, said, “Decarbonising aviation and reducing the industry’s environmental footprint is a challenge that requires innovative solutions. As well as the significant commitments and investment towards reducing our emissions, we’re committed to sustainability across our entire operations and supply chain. There’s a lot of untapped potential in the high value materials from retired aircraft that could be recycled and used to create parts in future Qantas aircraft cabins. We’re pleased to be part of this industry collaboration which is an important step towards a more resilient and sustainable future for aviation.”
