Introduction

Circular economy is an economic system that uses a systemic approach to maintain a circular flow of resources, by recovering, retaining or adding to their value, while contributing to sustainable development.  Workgroup 14 comprises representation from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), raw material providers, manufacturers, aircraft disassemblers and more on a common mission to enable a circular economy in commercial aviation.

Purpose

• Establishing the main circular economy priorities for the industry

• Establishing the current international, regional and local circular economy landscape of regulations applying to aviation and aerospace and how it impacts the sector

• Defining calculation methodologies in line with existing circularity metrics or reporting standards; Identifying additional needs for standards

• Enabling circularity in End-of-Life management (for aircraft and cabin):

• Evaluating the Economy of circularity for the sector

• Leveraging the circularity of materials (usage of recycled content in manufacturing, management of end of life composites, reintroduction of end of life materials in the value chain)

Benefits

• Reduce the environmental footprint of commercial aviation product and processes

• Inform design choices & accelerate improvement

• Support Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) & align with emerging regulations

• Build consistency & stakeholder confidence

• Remove waste from the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) process in aerospace supply chains

Initial Objectives

• A set of key definitions on circular economy applying to commercial aviation

• A report establishing the regulatory framework of circular economy applying to commercial aviation

• A gap analysis report related to existing and applied standard/best practices for end-of-life management

• A sectoral position paper on circular economy for commercial aviation