Innovation Awards: Toray’s process for reusing the secondary structure of the A380 for the A320 NEO wins in the Circularity & Recycling category

The 11 winners of the latest JEC Composites Innovation Awards were announced during the JEC World Premiere, which took place on Monday 12 January 2026 in Paris.

The aerospace industry has significantly increased its use of thermoplastic composites due to their lightweight properties, high mechanical performance and recyclability. For example, carbon fibre-reinforced polyphenylene sulphide (C/PPS) has become widely adopted in large structural components. Each A380 contains hundreds of C/PPS parts – such as pylon covers, wing ribs and leading edges – that are now reaching end-of-life as these aircraft retire.

Airbus, Daher, Tarmac Aerosave and Toray Advanced Composites address the challenge of creating a circular reuse strategy for these components and advancing recycling technology practices in aerospace manufacturing. Instead of landfilling high-performance materials, they have launched a project that aims to repurpose end-of-life A380 pylon covers made of registered trademark Cetex TC1100 into smaller A320 components, extending the material lifecycle.

What is Toray’s vision for circularity in aerospace thermoplastic composites, as demonstrated through this cross-programme reuse project?

With this repurposing process for large composite parts, our goal is to develop a closed-loop system for aerospace composites, where materials from retired aircraft are repurposed into new structures, reducing waste, maximising resource efficiency and promoting circularity.

What sets your solution apart from existing approaches?

Traditionally, recycling composites means cutting fibres short, reducing strength and value. Our process – which uses simple but smart reshaping techniques, familiar to the industry but applied in a new way – preserves long fibres, maintaining performance and the original purpose of the part.

Which technical barriers had to be overcome to ensure that materials recovered from an end-of-life A380 meet the structural requirements of an A320 NEO?

We had to ensure that the recovered materials met similar structural requirements than the A320 NEO parts. This involved retrieval of the old part, advanced inspection, fibre integrity preservation and adapting forming processes to maintain performance. To ensure that the structural requirements are met, we have developed a practical reuse model for aerospace.

Could this reuse model become an industrial standard for other components and aircraft, and under what conditions?

For our part, we aim to validate this process as a genuine alternative to current parts. We are also seeking a viable business model that guarantees a favourable carbon footprint for recycling these parts. Furthermore, we plan to extend the process to thermoset composites, which will allow us to address one of the biggest challenges in aerospace recycling.

And yes, we hope that our model can become an industry standard for other components and aircraft. To achieve this, robust conditions, scalable processes and close collaboration between OEMs and suppliers will be essential. A commitment from the entire sector to the circular economy will be necessary.

Cover photo: The team receiving its JEC Innovation Award 2026 — from left to right: Sébastien Medan, Environment Director, Tarmac Aerosave; Rodolphe Dumais, M&P, Digital Specialist, Daher Business Support; Julie Vaudour, R&D Deputy Director, Manufacturing Composite Expert, Daher; Celia Martin, Sustainability Project Manager, Toray Advanced Composites; Emmanuel Bourguignon, Director Commercial Aerospace, Toray Advanced Composites and Isabell Gradert, VP Central Research & Technology, Airbus.