Photo Credit: Aerocircular
Horizon 2020 project SUSTAINair, a collaboration of 11 European research organizations and industrial partners, was recently launched in January 2021 to research and develop solutions to achieve a circular aviation economy. This includes increasing resource efficiency and aircraft performance while cutting down on waste and material costs throughout the aircraft life cycle. Consortium partners note that despite the aerospace sector’s plunge into uncertainty, boosting the post-pandemic aviation industry’s green transition remains a strategic objective of governments providing a path to recovery.
More specifically, the EU-funded research aims to make the entire aviation supply chain ecosystem greener in line with the Circular Economy Action Plan, setting new standards for aerospace manufacturing and enabling an increase in cross-sector synergies. The SUSTAINair project is expected to provide the aviation sector with a runway to a more cost-effective, low-carbon economy while tackling the increase in resource consumption, waste and emissions. It has been endorsed by the Future Sky research initiative of the Association of European Research Establishments in Aeronautics (EREA).