China's first aircraft dismantling and recycling project is now underway at the Airbus Lifecycle Services Centre (ALSC) in Chengdu, a major aviation hub in southwest China's Sichuan Province, offering a new model of green circular economy in the aviation sector.
In the hangar of the service center, the initial dismantling work of a retired A330-200 wide-body aircraft has already been conducted through a collaboration between ALSC, Airbus China and Hengrui Corporation (HRC).
"We may divide the aircraft into different zones in the future, and our workers will dismantle components of the aircraft based on these different zones. The dismantling work for components in cabin and cockpit is expected to take around two months. Subsequently, we will carry out the de-decoration and cutting processes of the aircraft," explained Zhu Zixiang, a dismantling engineer at ALSC.
According to the staff there, the disassembled aircraft components will be reused in the aviation sector to cut operating expenses and minimized aircraft impact on the ecological environment. At present, around 60 to 70 percent of each aircraft’s components could be safely and effectively reused, recovered or recycled.
"Our goal for the first aircraft is to achieve a recycling rate of around 90 percent. Wide-body aircraft pose a greater challenge for recycling compared to narrow-body aircraft due to many composite materials in their fuselage, which are hard to be recycled and reused," said Yang Shudong, Business Development Director of ALSC. The project adopts innovative technologies from domestic enterprises to achieve efficient decomposition and reuse of carbon fiber composite materials, according to Wang Yongzhi, director from Hengrui Corporation, an innovative high-tech enterprise specialized in composite product developing and manufacturing,
"Composite materials have always been a problem that has remained unresolved globally. Because of our unique technology, we can break down carbon fiber composite materials, reclaim the carbon fiber, and then repurpose it. It is estimated that such a recovery rate may reach over 90 percent or even more than 95 percent," explained Wang.
China's first aircraft dismantling, recycling project underway in Sichuan
China's first aircraft dismantling, recycling project underway in Sichuan
