Page 71 from: October 2013

71October 2013

P l a s t i c s

In 2007, Boeing teamed up with the University

of Nottingham in the UK because of promising

composite recycling research under way there;

Stephen Pickering and his university team were

working on a novel way to restore some of the

strength sacrificed when cured composites are

cut up for recycling, severing their long carbon

threads.

With Boeing’s financial assistance and exper-

tise, Pickering and his colleagues successfully

developed a process that removes these

‘chopped fibres’ from their encasing epoxy and

then realigns them to create a stronger recycled

material. ‘The research we’ve completed is chal-

lenging, satisfying and important to the world,’

Pickering says. ‘We look forward to scaling these

solutions up to commercial volumes.’

Cured composites recycled in this manner will

find a variety of sporting, automotive and aero-

space applications, though not in primary struc-

tures such as aircraft fuselages. The patented

University of Nottingham-Boeing process

promises to increase prices commanded by

recycled composites in the marketplace, ensur-

ing the emergence of a vibrant composites recy-

cling industry without government support.

Hands-on experience
Boeing experts also gained valuable hands-on

experience by scrapping a pre-production 787

fuselage test section in 2009. ‘We learned quite

a lot about how to take a 787 apart and how not

to take one apart,’ Carberry notes with a smile.

Building on this foundation, Boeing Fabrica-

tion implemented pilot composite recycling

programmes at two Puget Sound sites – Fred-

erickson and Advanced Developmental Com-

posites – as well as at Boeing South Carolina.

Frederickson manufactures the 787’s compos-

ite tail fin, as well as other 787 parts, while Boe-

ing South Carolina assembles 787s.

At all three sites, both uncured and cured com-

posite manufacturing scrap is collected:

uncured composite is a resin-impregnated, pli-

able carbon-fibre fabric or tape, and a cured

composite has already been hardened into its

final shape by being baked in an autoclave. Boe-

ing’s recycling efforts address both types. Cured

composites are slightly harder to recycle, but

there will be a greater need for cured material

as market demand grows for recycled fibre,

according to Carberry.

Countless benefits
A cultural change is under way at the Boeing

sites. Workers are embracing the routine collec-

tion and segregation of scrap for recycling. Some

of the recovered material is used for research,

but the majority is sent to Materials Innovation

Technology, a pioneering composites recycler at

Lake City 144 kilometres from Boeing South

Carolina. Boeing hopes eventually to encourage

the development of a similar facility to serve the

Puget Sound region, avoiding the need for trans-

continental rail shipping.

‘Recycling composites offers countless benefits,’

says Odette Schindler, an environmental engi-

neer for environment, health and safety at Boe-

ing Fabrication’s Frederickson site. One of these

gains is helping Boeing meet ISO 14001

requirements to continually decrease a site’s

environmental impact. Frederickson is one of

many Boeing sites certified to ISO 14001, a

comprehensive body of environmental man-

agement standards promulgated by the Inter-

national Organization for Standardization.

Recycling is a key element of the comprehensive

Boeing Environmental Strategy, which also

addresses energy use, greenhouse gases, hazard-

ous waste and water usage. At Boeing South

Carolina, for example, composite recycling is

one reason the site achieved the zero-waste-to-

landfill designation in March 2011.

Closed-loop system
Composite recycling also allows significant

reduction in the cost and environmental impact

of aircraft production. And there are other

advantages too. Boeing engineers are pursuing

closed-loop reuse, a concept which will see

lightweight composite scrap material go back

into new 787 Dreamliners. Tony Soto, environ-

ment, health and safety senior manager at Boe-

ing South Carolina, explains: ‘We generate scrap

when we cut out the 787’s windows and doors.

The company’s vision is to have this unavoid-

able scrap recycled and then put it back into

our products in non-structural applications.’

Recycling the composite scrap material requires

95% less energy than would be needed to pro-

duce virgin material, according to Carberry.

On the commercial front, recycled composites

might become aircraft lighting fixtures, mount-

ing brackets or passenger cabin sidewalls and

ceilings. The US-based Interiors Responsibil-

ity Center at Everett in Washington State – a

manufacturer of passenger cabin fixtures and

components for Boeing jetliners – is evaluating

a newly-developed recycled material, created

from uncured 787 composite scrap.

Robin McBride is communications specialist at
The Boeing Company. For more information,
visit: www.boeing.com

‘It’s a fun and fitting
way for this beneficial

reuse to emerge.’

Composite material left over from the barrel-winding process at
Boeing South Carolina is collected and recycled.

Boeing mechanics assemble a 787 vertical fin.

A completed 787 Dreamliner, using more than 50% composite materials.

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