Did you know that after decades of flying passengers and cargo around the globe, up to 98% of every Rolls-Royce engine, by weight, can be recycled?
For more than a decade we have been developing processes to maximise recycling opportunities. We have partnered with strategic service providers who specialise in waste metal handling and processing. Together we have created new processes to remove coatings, separate alloys and clean up the waste metals.
Every one of our manufacturing and repair facilities, in more than 100 locations around the world, is part of our Revert programme, where we recover, recycle and reuse waste metals. These can then be melted and used again in new aerospace alloys. This reduces our need for new materials, the extraction of which is expensive and has a significant environmental impact.
Unserviceable engine parts and waste metal from machining as well as castings are recovered, and then returned to our material suppliers for re-melting and reuse. Almost half of a used aero engine can now be safely recycled to a standard where the quality of the recovered material is so high the materials can be reused to make new engine components as part of a fully closed-loop recycling system. The remainder is reused as a lower grade alloy for products in other industries with less arduous requirements for materials, such as golf clubs and cars.