The irony for Derk-Jan was that the realisation of a key ambition of his suddenly took off because of his health situation. After a diagnosis of a brain tumour, he was told he didn’t have long to live. “That brain tumour proved the stimulus to set up Aethos, a foundation to improve the recycling of materials from end-of-life aircraft.”
Some 20 years earlier, while studying at Delft University of Technology, he relates, he had the unique opportunity of being able to actually disassemble parts of a Boeing 747. “Back then, sustainability wasn’t really an issue; many people just did what was necessary. But I realised that aircraft would remain in use in Europe for a long time to come and that European airlines would have to raise the level of sustainability.”
He initially started up AELS so that it could be a service model for disassembling and dismantling aircraft. “Later we started buying up aircraft ourselves and then selling their component parts.” Currently, AELS mainly buys slightly younger end-of-life aircraft because demand for parts in this category is greater than it is for really old aircraft. “The slightly younger aircraft we target are passenger aircraft between 10 and 15 years old.”
Every year some 800 aircraft reach end-of-life status
High value parts
Worldwide, there are approximately 30,000 aircraft, and that’s not counting military, business or smaller private aircraft. And every year some 800 of these aircraft reach end-of-life status. “During the corona period, when people travelled by air much less, this number was even lower, with an average of 500 aircraft being disposed of every year. I still find this strange, but I suspect that it was probably because their book value was still relatively high and disposal would have been too great a financial hit,” reasons Derk-Jan.
“But we are now seeing a resurgence of supply. Many aircraft parts have high value. These include, for example, the engines, landing gear and the APU, or auxiliary power unit, which is installed at the rear of the aircraft.” But flight-deck instruments and specific parts are also in great demand. “Any parts that move and have a serial number are of interest to us, because they can sometimes fail.”
Rigorous safety requirements
It’s no secret that the aviation industry is subject to particularly rigorous safety requirements. “Every part that is to be reused must be checked and registered separately. In the case of LLPs (Life-Limited Parts), such as an engine, its entire history must be available, after which it can be deemed ready for reuse by a recertification company.”
Before acquiring an aircraft, an analysis is made of all the parts on board and where they are in terms of their respective life cycles. The possibility of reusing a part depends, among other things, on its age, expected lifespan and the number of flight cycles it has made. “All these factors have a bearing on the business case represented by aircraft parts. Not everything is predictable; surprises cannot be ruled out.”
Scrap value accounts for a relatively modest part of the total income. An end-of-life aircraft can easily cost between one and two million euros, so it’s not difficult to work out how much its component parts will have to raise
“Material recycling a mystery”
The Aethos foundation wants to bridge the gap that exists between companies that dismantle aircraft and experts who are knowledgeable about recycling. “Compared with cars, when it comes to reusing parts the aircraft industry is way ahead,” continues Derk-Jan. “And this has everything to do with the high value of aircraft parts. Conversely, it trails in the area of recycling residual materials.
At the moment many materials, such as fire-retardant plastics for example, are either hardly recycled or not recycled at all. Material recycling is still somewhat of a mystery, but the intention going forward is to do it better. We sometimes tend to think too simply about recycling aircraft materials. The foundation offers a research budget and aims to be a springboard for sharing relevant knowledge. At Aethos we are looking for people who are experienced in the recycling of existing aircraft materials, people who can make a valid contribution.”
Taking aircraft recycling to the next level
Many European studies focus on aircraft that will be manufactured further down the line. However, it will be 10 to 20 years before these aircraft are built and 20 to 25 before they need to be recycled. “We prefer to focus on aircraft that were developed 40 years ago and will soon be reaching the end of their useful lives. We’d like to broaden the discussion to include the high-quality recycling of materials from current aircraft types and seeking possible solutions worldwide. I’d therefore like to extend an invitation to anyone who can contribute to this to get in touch with the Aethos foundation. At the moment I’m still able to commit to this, but I don’t know for how much longer that will be the case… I’m so glad that Aethos has been able to sow the seeds that will further the growth of aircraft recycling. When I’m no longer here, the team will be able to carry on.”
More about Aethos
Aethos helps companies, organisations and individuals improve the recycling of materials from end-of-life aircraft. The foundation enjoys ANBI (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling, or in English PBO, Public Benefit Organisation) status, which means that companies and individuals can make tax-deductible financial contributions. The ambition of the foundation is to use innovative and sustainable methods to prevent the dumping or low-quality recycling of difficult-to-recycle materials from aircraft. For more information check out the website.
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