page_title: Aircraft recycling
section_title: Process
hierarchical_section_title: Aircraft recycling / Process
caption_attribution_description: IL-86 RA-86095 Scissor cockpit.
context_page_description: Aircraft recycling is the recycling industry of aircraft.
context_section_description: Airliners are typically operated for 20 to 30 years.Corrosion, metal fatigue, and low availability of new spare parts are problems encountered in greater frequency the older a machine becomes.
  Eventually, these factors, alongside improvements in fuel-efficiency and reduction in maintenance cost of newer machines, reduce the economic viability of the operation of older airliners. 
  Consequently, they may be stored, or scrapped and recycled.
  Vast expanses of arid desert are ideal for storage because hangars are not needed to maintain the aircraft at low humidity. Upon arrival, aircraft are washed to remove corroding salt, drained of fuel and lubricated with a light viscous oil. Explosive devices from the evacuation slides are removed, air ducts sealed, and an easily removable protective coat of paint may be applied.
  Some airliners are kept in working order as reserves, and a few are involved in fire-fighting and aerospace training schemes or in safety tests.
  Most are used as a source of spare parts and scrapped.
  The scrapping process takes six weeks and begins with the removal of the explosive escape equipment and toxic de-icing fluid.
  Some components are unbolted and salvaged, including the engines and instruments, while the fuel is drained away.
  The seats are worth from $450 to $5,000 and the landing gear can be sold for millions of dollars, although all parts need a Certificate of Airworthiness to be reused. Cables, batteries and other electronic waste are fed into the conventional recycling chains. Plastic interior components  are considered not recyclable, as they are made of mixed plastics and contain flame retardant chemicals.
  The remaining shell is cut into pieces and broken down by an industrial shredder so that the aluminium can be melted down.
  The scrap metal is ground up, mechanically sorted by density and magnetism, then sold to the trade.
  A future challenge for disposal is the construction of aircraft which use composite materials, such as aluminium/fibreglass GLARE in the Airbus A380.
  There are also concerns about contamination with alloys and the dumping of non-recyclable materials.
  An airliner can be dismantled in 1,500-2,000 parts (1,000 or so LRUs) in 30–60 days including engines, landing gear, auxiliary power units and components but it can be parked a year or two to maximise the part harvesting.
  A metal aircraft can be recycled up to 85-90% by mass with a 95% goal, and 85-90% could be maintained for composite airframes as the industry adapts with a carbonfibre market growing 12-14% a year towards 100,000t in 2019 of which 50% could be satisfied with recycled material.
caption: Ilyushin Il-86 cut at Sheremetyevo Airport
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