Boeing aims for waste reduction with ELG Carbon Fibre partnership

The agreement is said to be the first of its kind for the aerospace industry and will cover excess carbon fibre from 11 Boeing airplane manufacturing sites. Boeing believes the partnership will save over one million pounds of solid waste a year.

Boeing said it is the largest user of aerospace-grade composites and has been working for several years to create an economically viable carbon fibre reuse industry.

To this end, Boeing has set about improving production methods to minimise excess - and has developed a model for collecting scrap material - but technical barriers have hindered the repurposing of material already cured or prepped for use in the airplane manufacturing process.

Coseley, West Midlands-based ELG believes it has solved the problem with its proprietary method to recycle cured composites.

"Recycling cured carbon fibre was not possible just a few years ago," said Tia Benson Tolle, Boeing Materials & Fabrication director for Product Strategy & Future Airplane Development. "We are excited to collaborate with ELG and leverage innovative recycling methods to work toward a vision where no composite scrap will be sent to landfills."