Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association
The Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association is an international non-profit association bringing together different sectors of the aircraft industry. Its stated aim is to promote environmental best practice, regulatory excellence and sustainable developments in the fields of aircraft disassembly, as well as the salvaging and recycling aircraft parts and materials.
About 12,500 aircraft will reach their end-of-life in the next 20 years. The disposal of these aircraft is a major problem, which is why many companies have launched environmental programmes to address it. AFRA, with companies from Africa, Europe, and North America, means to provide an international perspective to assist the industry with the legal, regulatory and technical issues of aircraft recycling, promoting greater cooperation among governments and industries.
Of the 400 to 450 aircraft that are scrapped and disassembled globally each year, around one third of these aircraft are parted out and disassembled by AFRA member companies, producing upwards of 30,000 tons of aluminium and 1,800 tons of other specialty alloy metals for recycling, each year. All in all, AFRA members have dismantled more than 9,000 aircraft, with 7,000 from the commercial sector and 2,000 from the military.
It has been calculated that the market for aircraft parts is approximately $2 billion, but it is AFRA's belief that even greater financial value can be extracted from end-of-life activity.
AFRA was founded in 2005, when 11 companies agreed to join forces to develop an industry code of conduct and industry-developed recommended best practice in the areas of aircraft dismantling and materials recycling. The group's aim was to drive and motivate industry towards solutions for the safe and environmentally most responsible way of managing end-of-life aircraft.
The original 11 members were Air Salvage International, Adherent Technologies, Bartin Group, The Boeing Company, Chateauroux Air Centre, Europe Aviation, Huron Valley Fritz, Milled Carbon, Rolls-Royce and WINGNet.
AFRA members are global leaders in the management of aging aircraft fleets. They include Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Aircraft Disassemblers, Parts Distributors, Aircraft Insurers and Appraisers, Materials Recyclers and Technology Developers. Within its ranks AFRA also counts technology companies, and retains strong links with the academic community in relation to researching and developing new recycling technologies. AFRA has grown from its founding 11 members to now encompass 40 members from 10 countries.
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