Purpose: The aerospace industry's reliance on a linear "take-make-dispose" model is unsustainable, creating significant environmental waste and dependence on resource-constrained strategic materials. This paper aims to address this challenge by proposing a comprehensive, technology-driven framework for implementing a circular economy in the aerospace sector, with a specific focus on the high-value recycling of advanced composites and the recovery of rare and strategic metals from end-of-life aircraft.

Design/methodology/approach: This paper undertakes a conceptual analysis, synthesizing interdisciplinary literature from materials science, aerospace engineering, environmental management, and information technology. It integrates principles of the circular economy and green supply chain management [24] with an Industry 4.0 technology stack. The resulting conceptual framework outlines a digital platform architecture required to manage the complex processes of aircraft disassembly, material characterization, and reverse logistics.

Findings: The research finds that the primary barriers to aerospace circularity are associated with the technical difficulties in recycling composite materials and the complexity of recovering high-value, specialized alloys [7, 23]. The proposed framework suggests that these barriers can be addressed by leveraging a synergistic combination of digital technologies. This includes IoT for creating component digital twins [12], big data analytics for optimizing material flows [29], and artificial intelligence for predictive decision support in disassembly and recycling operations [9, 31]. A scalable microservices architecture [3, 14] is identified as a potentially optimal foundation for this digital ecosystem.

Practical implications: The framework provides a strategic roadmap for aerospace manufacturers, maintenance organizations, and recycling operators. It outlines how to transition from a linear to a circular model, thereby potentially reducing environmental impact, creating new value from waste streams, and enhancing long-term resource security and supply chain resilience [17].

Originality/value: This paper presents a novel, integrated framework that explicitly links the physical processes of aerospace material recycling with an enabling digital infrastructure. It addresses a critical gap in the literature by providing a holistic, systems-level view of how to operationalize the circular economy in a high-technology, high-value industry.

Circular Economy, Aerospace Industry, Composite Recycling

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