Over the next 20 years, more than 6,000 aircraft around the world are set to retire from service. In response to this, Airbus began the PAMELA-Life project in 2005, in order to set new eco-efficient standards for the management of these end-of-life aircraft.

The scope of the project which finished at the end of 2007 covered the entire process from storage to decommissioning, along with the disassembly, dismantling and recycling of materials and the management of potentially hazardous waste.

PAMELA, which stands for Process for the Advanced Management of End-of-Life Aircraft, was a Life project, supported by the European Commission and demonstrated that as much as 85 per cent of each aircraft’s components could be safely and effectively recycled, reused or recovered.

It was the world’s first full-scale demonstration project and has identified a generic methodology for handling all end-of-life aircraft, along with a set of best practices. Lessons learnt during PAMELA have been shared with Airbus’ design teams and suppliers to inform and support a fully integrated lifecycle approach to aircraft design and manufacture.

The project was a partnership between Airbus and Suez-Sita, EADS CCR, EADS-Sogerma Services and the Hautes Pyrénées Prefecture.