Photos: Airplane recycling taking off

Airplane graveyards throughout the American Southwest will welcome an influx of retired planes in the coming decades. But these boneyards may increasingly serve more as a stopovers than final destinations.

Recycling is set to expand as the airline industry seeks to become more sustainable and as costs rise for raw metals and manmade ingredients such as carbon fiber. Components of dead aircraft can be broken down and begin a new journey, eventually landing in consumer products including furniture, cell phone casings, and food cans.

This bird's eye view of a scrap yard in Victorville, Calif., can be seen online via Google Maps. The number of parked aircraft in such sites swelled when many planes were grounded following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The arid desert climate keeps the craft well-preserved.

Caption text by Elsa Wenzel