Swiss OEM Pilatus Studies Composite Scrap Recycling

Pilatus Aircraft launched a 32-month study with Swiss institutions to investigate whether carbon fiber production waste can be recycled directly back into the aircraft construction process. The Swiss aircraft manufacturer produces more than six tonnes of carbon fiber waste annually from cutting “prepreg” material—carbon fiber web pre-impregnated with synthetic resin—during component production. 

Recycling the material could significantly reduce production waste and potentially replace certain aluminum parts with carbon components, generating savings of up to 36 tonnes of aluminum per year, according to Pilatus.

The study will investigate a novel approach that heats sticky prepreg scraps in a controlled manner, causing them to lose their adhesive qualities and allowing further processing by machine. Then the material is cut into small pieces and transformed into new components using a special pressing process before being hardened. No established industrial method currently exists in aviation for directly transforming unused prepreg waste into new components.

Pilatus is partnering with researchers at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and Inspire AG, a strategic partner of ETH Zurich, on the project.

Swiss innovation agency Innosuisse is providing funding for the project. “The fact that Innosuisse chose to allocate a substantial financial contribution to the study is a reflection of its ecological, economic, and technological relevance,” said Urs Thomann, director of technologies, processes, and sustainability at Pilatus.