Aluminium from retired aircraft gets a new lease on life with Nandina REM’s recycling revolution

Singapore-based start-up Nandina REM is changing the game with a pioneering approach to aircraft recycling. The company transforms materials, including aluminium, into high-quality, ultra-low-emission, and traceable resources for industries like aviation and automotive. These materials can be used in new aircraft and diverse products, such as battery casings for electric vehicles.

Nandina REM leverages advanced technology

With major global trading houses like Sumitomo and aluminium leaders such as Press Metal on board, Nandina REM leverages advanced technology and material science to preserve the quality of aluminium alloys. By supplying high-grade secondary aluminium to manufacturers, the company helps reduce reliance on primary aluminium, promoting a more sustainable future.

“We see retired aeroplanes as a treasure trove of valuable materials. We believe that high-quality, recovered materials such as aluminium can become the building blocks of a greener, more sustainable future,” said Karina Cady, Nandina REM’s Founder and CEO.

The International Energy Agency reports that aviation contributed 2 per cent of global energy-related CO2 emissions in 2022, growing faster than rail, road, or shipping. Despite its significant impact on global warming, cutting back on flights isn’t a practical solution. Aviation data reveals that nearly 100,000 flights operate worldwide every week.

“Even if the majority of emissions are coming from using that aircraft, reducing the overall carbon footprint is still tangible. “If we’re reducing the carbon intensity of an aircraft by more than 50%, that matters,” added Cady.

Key functions

Nandina REM is advancing its vision through a three-step process, which CEO Karina Cady refers to as its three key buckets -

• The first bucket involves sourcing retired aircraft. In 2024, the company plans to reprocess around 40 planes, to double that number in the coming years. This step secures a steady feedstock, enabling Nandina REM to establish a reliable supply chain for secondary aluminium.
• The second bucket focuses on certification. Given the aviation industry’s strict standards for material sourcing and production, Nandina REM collaborates with industry stakeholders and policymakers to ensure that secondary aluminium is recognised as an integral part of the sector’s decarbonisation strategy.
• The third bucket represents Nandina REM’s long-term goal: reducing one gigatonne of greenhouse gas emissions from industrial supply chains by 2030. While Karina Cady acknowledges the scale of this ambition, she firmly believes it is within reach.

Challenges faced

Karina Cady highlights the aluminium industry’s strong recognition of the benefits of secondary aluminium and its commitment to a cradle-to-cradle approach. Recycling aluminium requires up to 95 per cent less energy compared to producing primary metal. While the aviation industry still needs greater awareness, there are encouraging signs of progress. Major aircraft manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus are advancing circular manufacturing practices.

“In the same way that a geologist is going to look at a mountain and think of all of the minerals they can exploit from that mountain, we want to change the mindset so that engineers can look at a retired plane and see it for all of the circular materials that could be harvested,” commented Cady.

Collaboration plays a crucial role in driving this shift. Nandina REM is a founding member of the Aviation Circularity Consortium (ACC), which unites airlines, regulators, OEMs, and suppliers to foster a circular economy within the aviation industry.

“One of the key things we’ve built as part of ACC is to create structured financing products to remove any potential green premium that manufacturers would have to work with to take on circular materials. Because that’s how you shift the mindset at scale, by providing sustainable materials to industrial supply chains that actually reduce operating costs. That way, it becomes a simple business case, and you don’t even have to make the sustainability case,” added Cady.