Pprogram to benefit his weekend kayakingete George never expected his work withadvanced composites for the 787 Dreamliner getaways. But it has. “Our paddles have a bit of the Dreamliner in them,” said George, an Associate Technical Fellow with Next- Generation Composites, Boeing Research & Technology. “They are lighter and more efficient, just like the 787.” Produced by a company in Washington state, the kayak paddles used by George are the first commercial products to employ carbon fiber reclaimed from production of the 787. “These paddles are a great first step in Dreamliner composites recycling,” said Bill Carberry, project manager and strategy leader for Sustainable Materials, Airplane Environmental Performance and Boeing Commercial Airplanes Product Development. “It’s a fun and fitting way for this beneficial reuse to emerge.” Boeing and the industry today stand at the threshold of large-scale global composites recycling, a trans- formation that will benefit manufacturers, consumers and the environment. Getting to this point required a decade of concerted effort across the enterprise as Boeing experts explored the issues then identified and fostered technologies for composites recycling. Boeing also created beneficial global alliances. “We are confident all this collaboration will pay off,” Carberry said. “We now know that when a composite airplane like the 787 reaches the end of its useful life, it will actually be more recyclable than a metal airplane because we can reclaim a higher percentage of high-value material from it.” Carbon-fiber composite materials were essentially unrecyclable in 2002 when Boeing experts first began to study the issue. The 787 program was then two years away from launch, and it would be many decades When a composite airplane ... “like the 787 reaches the end of its useful life, it will actually be more recyclable than a metal airplane.” – Bill Carberry, project manager and strategy leader for Sustainable Materials, Airplane Environmental Performance and Boeing Commercial Airplanes Product Development BOEING FRONTIERS / AUGUST 2012 19
Frontiers August 2012 Issue
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