Assessing Circularity Performance in Aircraft Component Design using ISO 59004:2024

Ligeia Paletti; Dionysios Markatos; Spiros Pantelakis; Angelos Filippatos

doi:10.55845/joce-2026-4139

Authors

Ligeia Paletti DLR, German Aerospace Center, Institute of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, Hamburg, Germany Author
Dionysios Markatos Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras, Patras, Greece Author
Spiros Pantelakis Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras, Patras, Greece Author
Angelos Filippatos Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras, Patras, Greece Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55845/joce-2026-4139

Keywords:

Circular Economy, Circularity, Circularity Performance, Assessment Methodology, Aviation, Aircraft Design

Abstract

Since the European Green Deal, circular economy and its strategies have gained interest across various industrial sectors, as a means for embedding sustainability in products and systems - including in the aviation sector. For the implementation of circular strategies to be successful, monitoring their effectiveness and progress is necessary. Though several methodologies, metrics and indicators to assess circularity have been developed, their application is fragmented and unstandardised across all sectors, thus including aviation. This work proposes a methodology for the aviation sector to evaluate the circularity performance of aircraft or airframe components. As part of the methodology, a framework is developed which can account for the multi-level character of circular economy; within the framework, aviation-related indicators are put in relation with the resource management actions from ISO59004:2024. Such a framework can fulfil both the need to assess how much circular economy principles are embedded in aviation and the necessity to provide engineers with guidelines to implement circular economy principles in aviation, and in aircraft design specifically.

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