The Revolutionary 'Circular Dress Cover' is a
Closed-Loop Solution Helping Airlines Achieve Their Net-Zero
Goals
PETERBOROUGH, England, May 22, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Gen Phoenix, a
multi-award winning leader in sustainable material innovation, in
partnership with Sabeti Wain Aerospace and Doy Design, is proud to
announce the launch of the aviation industry's first fully
recyclable aircraft dress cover. The Circular Dress Cover is a
breakthrough closed-loop solution that allows airlines to recycle
100% of their end-of-life seat covers into new seat cover material
with no compromise on quality, durability or certification
requirements.
This first-of-its-kind, fully circular cover is upholstered in
Helios, a brand-new material innovation developed by Gen Phoenix;
made using recycled end-of-life waste in a closed-loop process,
that can continue to be recycled again and again. The Circular
Dress Cover marks a paradigm shift in aircraft seating
sustainability. Current seat covers are traditionally made from a
mix of non-recyclable materials that are hard to separate and end
up in landfills or incinerated after their typical service life. In
contrast, Gen Phoenix's patent-pending technology allows airlines'
old seat covers to be fully recycled, in their entirety, and
repurposed at the end of their lives through the company's
innovative process.
"Airlines are under immense pressure to reduce waste and meet
aggressive net-zero emissions targets," says Nico den Ouden, CTO and GM Seating of Gen
Phoenix. "Helios, our latest material innovation, provides a
revolutionary new circular solution for airlines looking to
eliminate a significant waste stream and lower the carbon footprint
of aircraft interiors. It's a win for sustainability and a win for
airlines."
Early life cycle analysis shows the Circular Dress Cover reduces
the carbon emissions footprint by approximately 30% as compared to
traditional dress cover manufacturing. For a typical airline with
180 aircraft, it could prevent over 3 tons of landfill waste per
year.
Created with 100% components designed for recyclability, the
Circular Dress Cover meets all performance specifications for
aircraft seating, including the 12-second vertical burn
certification. A new bio-based coating provides a premium soft
touch for a luxury passenger experience, while maintaining all the
required durability. Through a take-back programme, Gen Phoenix
will collect and recycle their customer's dress covers at the end
of their useful life, breaking them down and building them back up
again with no compromise to performance or passenger
experience.
"We worked with Gen Phoenix to develop a laminated system that
could be fully recycled, using an alternative to the traditional
foam stack up. Gen Phoenix had
successfully proven the process to recycle these dress covers, and
this was one of the major technical breakthroughs from the team,"
says Nick Wain, Director, Sabeti
Wain Aerospace.
Gen Phoenix, Sabeti Wain
Aerospace and Doy Design will debut the Circular Dress Cover at the
Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg
in May 2024, with widespread
commercial availability targeted for early 2025. The Circular Dress
Cover will be featured on the Ultra-slim, low carbon seat concept
designed by Gary Doy of Doy Design,
which has been adapted in collaboration with Impressions
Technologies, to demonstrate the possibilities of recycling the
entire seat frame and structure at the end of its life. This has
been achieved by manufacturing the seat backs out of recycled
aluminium and employs a new pressing technology (Hot Form Quench)
from Impression Technologies. This allows for high strength and
deep draw parts to be used in a monocoque construction which
reduces part count and weight.
"The Ultra Slim Low Carbon Demonstrator Seat is an exercise in
making design decisions that prioritise circularity and reduce
the embedded carbon of the materials used," says Gary Doy of Doy Design. "One of the most
difficult areas of an aircraft seat to recycle is the cushion and
dress cover system. To solve this problem, we needed to reevaluate
the construction of the system and design a product with recycling
in mind. We worked closely with SabetiWain Aerospace to develop a
cushion system that can be readily disassembled at the end of life
whilst delivering a long-lasting product."
The Aircraft Interior Recycling Association (AIRA) employed
their AIRA Q system to all the materials in the seat. They
calculated the embedded carbon and identified the material for
every individual part to support its recycling at the end of
life.
"One of the successes of this project has been the collaboration
of very different businesses who have a genuine passion to make a
difference. The seat is just a catalyst to focus attention, the
real win is getting people to work together to generate innovative
solutions and push for a more sustainable approach," says
Nico den Ouden.
About Gen Phoenix
Gen Phoenix is delivering a new generation of
materials for the next era of sustainability. Through a
revolutionary circular process that earned the brand recognition as
one of Fast Company's 2024 Most Innovative
Companies, Edison Award and 'Best of CES', Gen
Phoenix rescues leather offcuts destined for landfill and
regenerates them into a premium recycled leather material coveted
by the world's most iconic brands for its beauty and durability.
Since 2007, Gen Phoenix has diverted thousands of tons of material
from landfill. Adaptable to a wide variety of feedstocks, Gen
Phoenix's patented technology platform will make material
circularity possible at an epic scale. For more information, please
visit http://www.genphoenix.com.
About Doy Design
Doy Design has a crystal-clear
vision; to develop groundbreaking, sustainably-led products and
solutions that make a tangible difference to people's lives, by
responding to challenges and opportunities in a rapidly changing
world. We aim to deliver this through innovative design, artistry
and collaboration with our customers, industry specialists and
trusted business partners. Doy Design has an affinity for the use
of cutting-edge technologies and sustainable materials,
collaborating with specialists as part of a multi-disciplinary
team, to ensure that each project achieves its full potential.
Located in Coventry, England,
Doy Design has over 30 years
extensive experience in the automotive and aviation sectors, from
OEM production projects to special vehicles and aftermarket
modification. More information can be found at
https://www.doydesign.com/.
About Sabeti Wain Aerospace
Sabeti Wain Aerospace
started out as a small clothing manufacturer in Iran, a country born of revolution and torn by
religious differences. Forced to leave their country and roots, the
company took their first step in a journey that would eventually
see them reunited with their family in the UK. Here they were able
to start their business again, and after years of hard work and
sheer determination, built it into the success it is today. Now
Sabeti Wain is not only the world's leading designer and
manufacturer of aircraft seat covers, with production facilities in
the UK, Dubai
and America, it also represents the highest quality benchmark -
effectively the standard that other manufacturers seek to emulate,
and by which they are judged. For more information, please visit
https://www.sabetiwainaerospace.com/.
About Impression Technologies
Headquartered in
Coventry, UK, Impression
Technologies is a world leader in lightweighting solutions for
automotive, aerospace, mass transit and consumer product sectors
through the application of its Hot Form Quench (HFQ®) technology
for aluminium hot forming. We provide a complete aluminium
light-weighting solution for any industry sector – from feasibility
studies to design, prototyping, and production. Our unique blend of
engineering expertise, metallurgical knowledge, advanced hot
forming techniques, and simulation capabilities –the HFQ®
technology platform – is positioned to become the global benchmark
for lighter, stronger, cost-efficient aluminium structures.
Additional details can be found here.
Media Contact: Aile Cheng, aile.cheng@smallgirlspr.com
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gen-phoenix-unveils-aviation-industrys-first-fully-recyclable-aircraft-dress-cover-made-from-innovative-new-circular-material-302152072.html
SOURCE Gen Phoenix