Gen Phoenix, a developer and manufacturer of aircraft cabin materials such as ELeather, has created a guide intended to help encourage and enable greater circularity in the selection and end-of-life treatment of materials.
The guide, titled the CirculAir Playbook, is an industry-backed guide developed in collaboration with Boeing, Teague, Elevate Aircraft Seating, Aerofoam Industries, and Müller Textil Group, and endorsed by both the Aviation Circularity Consortium and Green Cabin Alliance.
The playbook is designed to provide a practical guide to best practices when introducing circular design principles in aircraft interior design. Gen Phoenix says the Playbook can also open up broader conversations among designers and suppliers about innovations in materials, engineering, and systems.
As background, Gen Phoenix cites the figure that more than one million aircraft seat dress covers are discarded every year, with the majority ending up in landfill or being incinerated. Aviation and other sectors are facing increasing pressure to reduce waste and optimise resources, and the CirculAir Playbook offers advice on how to reduce wasteful practices such as dress cover disposal with more sustainable options.
Key insights in circular design from the CirculAir Playbook include:
- Scaling innovation in regulated industries: What it takes to bring new materials and circular systems to market at scale
- Material innovation as a performance driver: How next-generation materials can reduce weight, improve durability, and enhance efficiency
- The role of collaboration:
- Why cross-industry alignment is critical to accelerating circular solutions
