PHOTOS: (Clockwise from far left) Boeing manufacturing sites collect excess carbon fiber material for recycling. ALAN MARTS/BOEING Boeing South Carolina produces one-piece 787 composite fuselage barrels, known as the aft fuselage sections 47 and 48. ED TURNER/BOEING Richard Moore loads a composite skin panel onto an abrasive water jet trimming machine; mechanic Fred Staples measures fastener height on a 787 vertical fin; Composite Manufacturing Center employees prepare to load a completed 787 vertical fin onto a trailer for shipping. BOB FERGUSON/BOEING Organization for Standardization. as waste or scrap is reused. This saves money and energy and Recycling is a key element of the comprehensive Boeing is better for the environment. Recycling the composite scrap Environmental Strategy, which also addresses energy use, material requires 95 percent less energy than would be needed greenhouse gases, hazardous waste and water usage. to produce virgin material, according to Carberry. At Boeing South Carolina, for example, composite recycling On the commercial front, recycled composites might become air- is one reason the site achieved the zero-waste-to-landfill craft lighting fixtures, mounting brackets or passenger cabin sidewalls designation in March 2011. and ceilings. The Interiors Responsibility Center at Everett, Wash., Composite recycling also allows significant reduction in the which manufactures passenger cabin fixtures and components for cost and environmental impact of aircraft production. And there Boeing jetliners, is evaluating a newly developed recycled material, are other advantages. Boeing engineers are pursuing “closed- created from uncured 787 composite scrap, that has a superb finish. loop reuse,” a concept that will see lightweight composite scrap “As a chemical engineer, what’s most exciting and rewarding material go back into new 787 Dreamliners. for me are the environmentally responsible material forms we’re “We generate scrap when we cut out the 787’s windows creating,” said George, the Associate Technical Fellow. “It’s not and doors,” said Tony Soto, the Environment, Health and Safety often you get to bring something entirely new into regular use.” senior manager at Boeing South Carolina. “The company’s vision Small wonder, then, that George sees so much more than is to have this unavoidable scrap recycled and then put it back mere paddles as he propels his kayak through the scenic waters into our products in nonstructural applications.” of the Northwest. n In a closed-loop system, what would normally be discarded robin.m.mcbride@boeing.com BOEING FRONTIERS / AUGUST 2012 25
Frontiers August 2012 Issue
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