Aircraft dismantling specialist Tarmac Aerosave has teamed with Constellium to jointly recycle and remelt aluminium from end-of-life aircraft into new, high-performance material suitable for future aerospace applications.
The partners said the milestone achievement follows months of collaborative research and development, supported by Airbus and waste recovery specialist Valoer. Having demonstrated the capability to produce material meeting performance requirements for new aircraft manufacturing, the next step will be to scale up this process for industrial application and extend it to any aluminium alloy used in metallic aircraft.
Tarmac Aerosave president Alexandre Brun says: “Aluminium is one of the materials that we have always sought to sort and recover in the best possible way in order to increase our recycling rate, which is now more than 92%. We’re proud to have joined forces with partners who share our commitment to advancing circular solutions for aviation.”
Philippe Hoffmann, president of Constellium’s Aerospace and Transportation business unit, says: “What makes this initiative truly exciting is that it demonstrates – through a real-world example – that even complex aerospace aluminium alloys from end-of-life aircraft can be fully recycled into material suitable for new aerospace applications. It’s a proof point for the circular economy in aviation.”
