The Problem of Recycling of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Recently an extensive growth in the market for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, drones) has been observed.Because of numerous advantages, their application in various areas is wide, starting with military, through civilian -specialized up to amateur.The world market for civilian commercial drones in the year 2022 has achieved a value of more than USD 30 billion, and it is estimated that by 2032 it will have achieved USD 125 billion.Great expectations of reduction of world CO 2 emissions and development of clean economy are linked with drones application in transportation and agriculture.Unfortunately, despite of the UAV -related advantages mentioned above, the problem of their comprehensive recycling seems to remain unseen.Actions aimed at recycling lithium-ion batteries used in drones have been taken, whereas the challenge of recycling the construction materials applied in UAVs seems to be ignored, which, taking into consideration the estimated growth of the UAV market and a relatively short product lifecycle, may constitute a significant ecological problem in the near future.The aim of this article is to draw attention of scientific community to the crucial but unnoticed problem, which UAV recycling will become in the near future.The authors tried to assess the extent of drones recycling problem by review of UAVs market, emphasizing the most common construction materials applied in their production, and to outline the issues related to their recycling.Proposals of solutions facilitating introduction of circular economy into UAVs market have also been put forward.