The Biz Buzz - Boeing and Italian firm to recycle composites

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Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

Boeing and Italian firm to recycle composites

Posted by John Gillie @ 10:22:56 am

The Boeing Co. and Italy's Alenia Aeronautica today announced a joint effort to establish a composite materials recycling facility in southern Italy.

The new facility, which is scheduled to open about a year from now, will recycle used composite aircraft parts into industrially useful materials.

Composites are seeing increasing use in aircraft throughout the world because of their light weight, corrosion resistance and durability. Boeing new 787 Dreamliner is the first large commercial jet to be built largely of composite materials.

Composite materials typically consist of carbon fiber threads imbedded in a medium that cures and gains strength when baked in a large oven-like autoclave.

The new recycling plant will be in Italy's Puglia region near Alenia's production facilities. Puglia is in southeastern Italy. Its southernmost part forms the heel of Italy's boot shape.

The center is expected to process about 1,100 tons of composite scrap yearly at full production

Categories: Aerospace

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Marce Edwards is the business editor. She has been at The News Tribune for seven years and has written about technology and big businesses in the South Sound including Weyerhaeuser and Russell. Before moving to Tacoma, she worked at The Idaho Statesman in Boise. She is a Northwest native who likes to garden and refuses to use an umbrella. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and two kids.

C.R. Roberts is a Tacoma native. Before joining The News Tribune, he worked as a freelance writer and part-time cowhand on a cattle ranch in Northern Idaho. He writes about small business, personal finance and other business issues.

John Gillie writes about the aerospace and airline industries, commercial development and consumer issues. During his 30-year-tenure at The News Tribune he has covered issues as diverse as the Native American fishing rights disputes, crime and the courts, the wood products industry and energy. He lived in Tacoma with his family for 25 years, but now lives in Kent because his wife heads a five-state non-profit foundation headquartered in Ballard, and it only seemed a sensible compromise to make considering their workplaces are 40 miles apart.

Kelly Kearsley has been a business reporter at The News Tribune since 2005. She covers the Port of Tacoma and international trade. Being born and raised in Spokane she’s used to living in cities with inferiority complexes and, in fact, prefers it. Prior to working at The News Tribune, she spent three years as a reporter for The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon and another year working stints for The Associated Press and Seattle Times. She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and miniature schnauzer.