We recognise that human behaviour is increasing the levels of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and accelerating global climate change. We are working to minimise our impact on the environment and one of our areas of focus at Rolls-Royce & Partners Finance is the reduction of waste.
Over the last five years, we have built a team that is focused on reducing engines to parts, repairing them, and finding new homes for them. We are recycling our end-of-life engines into serviceable used parts.
The adoption of this circular business practice is enabling us to extend the life of our assets and reduce demand for virgin materials.
Pushing the boundaries
There are always some parts that we are not able to make serviceable again. For these “scrap” parts, we work with external suppliers to extract the base materials, such as titanium, so that they can be used in other products and avoid the unnecessary extraction of resources.
However, recently we approached some universities to explore other more imaginative ways of recycling our scrap parts while create learning opportunities for students.
The Jewellery School at Glasgow School of Art (GSA) were enthusiastic about the materials as they are always pushing the boundaries of what jewellery can be made of.
Making parts shiny again
We were introduced to the GSA Artist in Residence, Sheng (Shawn) Zhang, who was excited to work on a project with us. Shawn selected some of our scrap parts to work with. Each part has a different operational history. The parts he selected had been in service for over 20 years, completing 10,000 flights and connecting c.3 million people. Shawn took our scrap material and made something very valuable in its own unique way.
“I’m very glad to be the bridge and use my hands, to connect those components and those stories behind it, to someone who is going to wear it.”
Sheng (Shawn) Zhang
Creating a learning experience
The GSA created a learning experience from this project by organising an online seminar where Shawn could present his work and the process behind it. This seminar was part of a wider project called Bus Stop Jewellery Conversations which enables contemporary jewellers and students to explore new ways to engage people on a wide range of important social and environmental themes. The seminar is available to watch online at https://busstop.jewelleryconversations.com/
Where can I buy your jewellery?
We have been asked this a lot since we launched the project and received the first pieces from Shawn. We now plan to auction a limited number of pieces for charity and if you are interested in being notified about this event, please register your interest with Ben Hughes.
