19 Jul 2024

Babcock and Uplift360 partner to explore recycling and repurposing defence equipment

We have signed an agreement with Uplift360, a deep tech company developing chemical technologies, to recycle advanced materials.

Announced on the opening day of the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), the partnership will explore a turnkey solution for managing and recycling composite materials from defence equipment.  

It will also look at recycling high-value composite materials from the UK defence industry that can be repurposed for other applications through a process known as circular economics, which essentially means that products and materials can be kept in circulation through processes such as refurbishment, remanufacture and recycling.

As supply chain experts, we will engage with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) on how it can sustainably manage end-of-life assets.

Tom Newman, CEO of Babcock’s Land business, said: “As a business, we’re committed to reducing our carbon footprint and assisting our customers to achieve their net zero ambitions.

“This partnership is an exciting step forward in understanding how we can breathe new life into redundant assets that can be recycled and repurposed before going back into circulation.”

Sam Staincliffe, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Uplift360, added: “We are very excited to be working with a company such as Babcock who share the same goals and ambitions as our team. We see great value in end-of-life waste across defence, aerospace and space and with this partnership we can unlock real value both environmentally and financially, contributing to supply chain resiliency.”