“Green” cleaning of A350 landing gear at Toulouse.

Airbus has marked another environmental achievement with its introduction of an innovative new method for cleaning aircraft landing gear in Toulouse.

Source: Airbus

It has been specifically developed to prevent the discharge of foaming, non-toxic waste water in the nearby Touch River.

As part of Airbus’ regular aircraft assembly process, A350´s landing gear are cleaned outdoors using wipes or sponges with detergent and water.

“Foam was regularly being seen on the surface of the Touch, and after some investigation, we found it was being caused by this process,” explained Elisabeth Dauba, who is in charge of the environment for Airbus’ final assembly lines. 

This foam is non-toxic as the individual products used are biodegradable, but it was clearly having a visible effect on the river.

Working with Atalian, the company that is responsible for cleaning aircraft landing gear on site, a sausage-shaped container is now fitted into a gutter and inflated to store the water –which is then sucked out and injected into special cisterns with a double lining.

Additionally, a special anti-foaming agent is added to the detergent to reduce the amount of foam produced in the guttering, as well as on the ground. 

Based on the press release “Fighting foam: Airbus leverages innovation in order to help keep a river clean”