Overview
Sustainability is of essential concern for Pilatus Aircraft Ltd and is firmly anchored in the company's strategy. Sustainability in the aviation industry is closely linked to the weight of aircraft. In this context, carbon fiber reinforced composites are becoming increasingly important because they are very light and yet fulfill the properties that are desired in aircraft construction. The downside of this development is that the composite production requires a lot of energy and resources and therefore emits a lot of emissions. Since there is also a lot of prepreg waste due to cutting offs, the question arises as to whether this valuable waste cannot be reused. With this Innosuisse project, Pilatus, the HSLU and ETH Inspire want to find out whether this waste can be reused for aircraft parts. Perhaps it could even replace metal components and have an additional positive impact on sustainability, namely weight saving while consume no additional resources.
