Assessing the potential for closed loop recycling of end-of-life aerospace aluminum alloys in the United States

High-quality recycling of aluminum from end-of-life planes into new aerospace-grade aluminum is starting to be researched by manufacturing and recycling companies. The intention of this work is to lay the groundwork for U.S. centric studies on aluminum end-of-life plane recycling by tracing the current lifespan of aerospace aluminum alloys from production to end-of-life to uncover and articulate opportunities and barriers to closed-loop recycling of end-of-life airplane aluminum in the United States. A dynamic material flow analysis (DMFA) of the aluminum from Boeing airplanes within the United States from 2024-2035 is performed to understand the material and financial scale of the opportunity. The current processes, challenges, barriers, and potential opportunities are informed by stakeholder and industry expert interviews. From the processes and analysis of barriers, a lifecycle map is created to visualize the current processes and problem junctions. Analysis of alloy makeup is used to identify why current scrap streams are unusable for high-value recycling. Recommendations on stakeholder actions and investments for increased high-quality recycling of aerospace alloys are included based on the barriers and challenges identified.