Boeing pursues recycling innovations with aircraft parts

When an airliner reaches the end of its operational life, the practice has been to park it on an aircraft junk yard, also called a bone yard or grave yard, where they are eventually turned into aircraft scrap metal. However, according to the Seattle Times, the Boeing Company, one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers, is looking at aerospace sustainability initiatives to reuse parts of old airliners in house once they have been retired from service.

It seems that engines, landing gear, and other components can find a second life if they are extracted from an old, obsolete airliner and refurbished. Hitherto that job has been contracted out, which means that Boeing doesn’t have much control over how its parts are used after they are extracted from the old airliners.

The real motive for Boeing getting into the aircraft recycling business is its potential for profit. It is estimated that a 737 contains parts that are valued at 1.5 Million US dollars. A wide body aircraft can contain as much as 2.5 million US dollars. And that does not include engines, which can fetch as much as 1. 5 million to 6 million US dollars.

It turns out that there is a growing market for recycled aircraft parts. Popular aircraft components for resale include propulsion systems from engines, auxiliary power units, actuators, black boxes, cockpit instruments and even windshields, according to one industry insider. With more and more planes being retired, the inventory of spare parts is only going to grow for Boeing recycling. They have the opportunity to strip them out and resell them.