Discarded PCs and critical raw materials: how Leonardo valorises waste

 The decision to define and pursue circularity strategies is driven not only by sustainability goals but also by efficiency, resilience and competitiveness, which are essential for our business'. This is how Raffaella Luglini, chief sustainability officer of Leonardo, introduces the theme of recycling, recovery and reuse of resources which, for the aerospace defence and security company, is divided into four strands. "The first is that of incoming materials,' continues Luglini, 'for which we have, for example, launched a tracking project in one of our divisions, with the aim of extending it transversally. The second concerns the circularity of products, designed through ecodesign techniques and taking into account their life cycle assessment. The third touches the management of outgoing materials, according to the waste as a resource principle we have 32 thousand tonnes per year of waste and with the projects underway more than 50% is sent to recovery processes, and we want to scale up: the potential is very high considering that Leonardo is growing. Finally, the last one concerns the end-of-life of products: for example, in the helicopter division we have developed a market place where supply and demand can be matched with a guarantee of the quality of used spare parts'.

This last direction also includes the OnLife project with which Leonardo enhances the value of its digital assets such as decommissioned computers through various channels: after a remanufacturing process, reuse in the secondary market, donations for digital inclusion - with Hp's Hope project - destined for non-profit organisations working to reduce the digital divide, and finally recycling for the recovery of critical raw materials, again together with Hp, which provides a report at the end of the process with the amount of resources recovered and CO2 equivalent avoided.

"We are in a pilot phase that has just started," explains Luglini, who says: "We are talking about almost 800 PCs and monitors, about 300 of which have been donated and reused, with the forecast of reaching 20,000 beneficiaries per year, for almost 100,000 hours of training, again per year, and an important social impact. The plan is then to extend this project to all the PCs and screens that periodically become available within our group'.

Returning to the management of output materials from a circular perspective, Leonardo - in line with the group's circularity strategy contained in the Transition Plan published in June - has also started the process of recycling carbon fibre from aeronautics division waste, with Herambiente, or Teflon, with Guarniflon, in the same division. It is also developing a project to recover three critical raw materials: titanium, aluminium and magnesium. 'We have also started it considering the framework at European level, in the wake of the Critical Raw Materials Act, together with Italian institutions, in particular Mimit, Mase, and the Ministry of Defence,' Luglini further emphasises.

"The objective is the reintroduction of the waste of these critical materials within the aerospace, defence and security sector," he continues. "We started this process this year, initially identifying the most strategic critical raw materials for us: in January 2026 we will conclude the first phase of work by presenting the project proposal for the three materials identified, involving the suppliers of the various supply chains, in our country or in others where we as a group have activities. For this type of initiative, which concerns critical raw materials, the European Commission has provided several funds distributed through calls for tenders. After a first one, closed already in 2024, the second one will end in January and will see Leonardo participate. Our focus, in particular, will be on titanium'.