The ACC 2050 Roadmap

The aviation industry is under urgent pressure to adopt sustainable practices, with circularity offering a powerful path forward. By integrating circularity across the aviation value chain, the sector can mitigate against resource depletion and growing emissions while strengthening supply chains, positioning aviation as a leader in capturing circularity’s full potential. 

The 2050 Roadmap provides a crucial framework for key aviation stakeholders to collaboratively scale circular practices and unlock sustainable solutions towards a low-carbon future.

In Support of Aviation Circularity

“The whole industry has to get its mind around circularity, and one of the big barriers is not technological, it's actually commercial. Whose responsibility is it? That’s one of the big challenges—it’s figuring out what the industrial model is for circularity. After that, it’s a matter of developing and implementing the key technologies so that you can recover all these very valuable materials from aircraft, and so you can design future aircraft with circularity in mind.”

— Ric Parker, Chairman, Singapore Aerospace Programme

“Aviation circularity presents a significant opportunity for the aluminium industry to demonstrate the sustainability potential of this versatile material. With demand for aluminium set to rise in the coming decades—driven by its vital role in decarbonising industries worldwide—our sector remains focused on decreasing emissions intensity in production. To meet a 1.5°C climate target, the aluminium industry must triple its use of post-consumer scrap by 2050, while ensuring a consistent supply of high-quality aluminium for aircraft manufacturing and other critical applications.”

— Miles Prosser, Secretary-General, International Aluminium Institute

“Circularity is a vital component of our industry’s broader sustainability and innovation journey. This means developing aircraft that are not only technologically advanced and efficient, but also designed with circularity in mind to maximise the lifespan of valuable materials. We look forward to working collaboratively across the industry to establish a truly circular aviation ecosystem and shape a more sustainable future for air travel.”

— Cyrille Schwob, Head of Technology Asia-Pacific, Airbus

“Aviation circularity represents a tangible and highly credible short- and long-term solution to sustainability in the aviation industry. The ACC is therefore a truly welcome, timely and, moreover, necessary initiative, which we’re proud to be associated with. We look forward to partnering with the ACC and its members.”

— Tristan Thompson, Partner, Singapore Kennedys Law LLP

Key Pillars

The 2050 Roadmap is structured around four pillars that have already begun, and which will advance in parallel. These pillars support and drive each other to accelerate transformation and embed circularity across the aviation value chain.

To meet our timelines, all parties must begin to act together, and act now.

  • Create robust demand for circular products and services to incentivise the development and adoption of circular practices.

  • Develop consistent and transparent guidelines to ensure a coordinated approach to circularity across the sector.

  • Ensure the reliable supply and delivery of circular materials to meet growing demand, incentivise circular economy principles, and drive investment in the trade of circular materials.

  • Integrate end-of-life considerations into material and product design to facilitate the reprocessing of materials as part of a circular supply chain.

We welcome feedback.

If you have any feedback, suggestions, or questions about the roadmap, we’d love to hear from you.

Your input is important in shaping the future of aviation circularity!