Evaluating the Environmental Impact of End-of-Life Management in Aircraft Components: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach

Abstract

The aviation industry has traditionally focused on in-fight emissions, but has often overlooked the environmental impacts of the end-of-life (EoL) phase of aircraft and its components. However, the EoL phase not only has environmental impacts but also presents opportunities for material recovery and recycling, potentially reducing energy consumption associated with the production of new materials from raw extraction. This study presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of an A321 aircraft’s single cabin interior panel. Mechanical recycling is shown to reduce climate change impacts by 3.3 times compared to landfill, while thermal recycling achieves the highest reduction in resource use (minerals and metals, by 172.7 times. However, chemical recycling increases ionizing radiation impacts by 21.9 times. This work contributes by providing a detailed assessment of the environmental impact of a cabin interior panel relative to the whole aircraft and demonstrates that comprehensive EoL management strategies yield significant environmental benefits.