Operations and facilities

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Operations and facilities

State of the art facilities

We continue to invest in developing state of the art manufacturing and production environments that enable us to reduce the environmental impact of our operations.

30.8%
of energy consumption from renewable sources in 2021
29%
reduction in global energy use since 2014
61.4%

recycling and recovery rate

0

significant environmental violations for the last 4 years

Project Sunshine

Over 11,700 solar photovoltaic panels have been installed on the roof and car park of our Seletar campus, Singapore.

Over its lifetime the solar scheme is expected to save more than 39,000 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to the benefit of planting 1,570,000 trees or taking 4,770 cars off the road.

Find out more about Project Sunshine

Operational performance

We continue to invest in improving the operational performance of our facilities, both in our production and office environments.

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Operational performance

Understanding our energy use helps us to identify inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement across our global business.

Understanding our energy use helps us to identify inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement across our global business.

Our normalised energy consumption in 2022 was 76 MWh/£m. This represents a reduction of 352,579 MWh (25.6%) since 2014. The total amount of energy consumed in the year was 1,025,783 MWh, of which 30.8% came from renewable energy sources, including 0.9% generated from our own on-site clean energy installations.

Our progress is the result of a continued investment in energy efficiency improvement projects, including upgrading lighting and heating systems, and building management systems.

More information on our energy consumption reduction target

By 2030, our goal is to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from all energy purchased and consumed in the operation of our buildings, facilities and manufacturing processes (facility emissions, excluding product test).

By 2030, our goal is to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from all energy purchased and consumed in the operation of our buildings, facilities and manufacturing processes (facility emissions, excluding product test).

This target is well aligned with the emissions reduction trajectory required to curb global temperature rise to 1.5ºC. We are aiming to achieve our goal through on-site renewable energy installations, the procurement of renewable energy and continued implementation of energy efficiency improvements to reduce our overall energy demands and associated costs.

In 2022, the emissions associated with our operations and facilities target was 175 ktCO2e. This is a 2 ktCO2e reduction (1.1%) from 2021.

As part of our science-based target setting, we aim to replace our existing facilities-focused goal with a revised target to reduce total scope 1 + 2 emissions by 50% by 2030, from a 2019 baseline *, bringing test emissions into the scope of our target for the first time. We will continue to work to target net zero GHG emissions from our operations and facilities within the same timescale.

* Target awaiting validation from the Science-Based Targets initiative and therefore subject to change.

More information on our operational GHG reduction target

We have made good progress with improving our solid waste recycling rate over the past 20 years and continue to explore further opportunities for improvement. This includes the introduction of new technology and a focus on the waste hierarchy.

We have made good progress with improving our solid waste recycling rate over the past 20 years and continue to explore further opportunities for improvement. This includes the introduction of new technology and a focus on the waste hierarchy.

We continue to focus on opportunities to prevent and reduce the amount of waste we generate and to divert waste from landfill.

Over 60% of our waste is generated from four principal sources: metals; chemical processing and cleaning wastes; packaging; and foundry sand.

In 2022, our total normalised solid and liquid waste was 3.41 kilotonnes/£m, a 13% reduction since 2014. The total amount of solid and liquid waste generated in operations was 46.1 kilotonnes, compared to 43.0 in 2021. This includes 16.5 kilotonnes of hazardous, primarily chemical, waste. The overall increase in the volume of waste produced has been driven in part by increased production activities following the impact of COVID-19.

We continue to work closely with our waste management partners to identify recycling and recovery alternatives to landfill across a variety of waste streams.

A number of our manufacturing sites around the world have already achieved zero waste to landfill.

More information on our operational waste reduction and waste to landfill targets

We use water in our manufacturing, repair and overhaul services, and for certain product testing activities.

We use water in our manufacturing, repair and overhaul services, and for certain product testing activities.

In 2016 our total water consumption was similar to previous years at approximately 4100 megalitres.

We have completed a detailed global review of our water footprint, using the Global Water Tool from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. This has helped us to identify regions of higher water stress. This means we can take local water availability into consideration when making decisions on future site locations and targeted investments to reduce water use at existing sites.

We have also sought opportunities to reduce our water use in key processing areas. Our largest water use is in wet processing, such as component clean and surface plating. We invest in monitoring equipment and counter-flow rinsing techniques to extend bath lives, significantly reducing our need to replenish.

Our approach

We continue to invest in developing state of the art manufacturing and production environments that enable us to reduce the environmental impact of our operations.

Our biggest environmental impact is in the use phase of our products. We concentrate on improving the performance and efficiency of our products in service, which is where we can make the biggest contribution.

At the same time, we recognise the need to mitigate any negative impacts associated with our business operations and facilities. This helps us to ensure our facilities are resilient; removing cost and risk from our operations.

Our environment strategy reflects three core areas of focus:

  • Supporting customers by further reducing the environmental impact of our products and services
  • Developing new technology and capability for future low emissions products and services
  • Continually reducing the environmental impact of all our business activities.

We continually monitor performance across our global footprint and set global policy, procedures and targets in line with our production activities.

More information on product performance

Material stewardship

Our products are comprised of complex materials and metals that are critical to enabling them to perform in a safe and efficient manner. We apply stringent rules and processes to material sourcing and stewardship, whilst never comprising product safety.

We fully support regulatory principles that promote socially responsibly sourcing of minerals, chemicals and other materials, and manage all of our business activities in line with international and local laws relevant to our countries of operation.

Conflict minerals

We fully support the principles of regulations that promote socially responsible sourcing of minerals.

We set high standards for the way we do business. This helps our customers know that we can be trusted to deliver excellence. We request our suppliers to only provide us with raw materials, components and subassemblies that are derived from responsibly-sourced minerals that can be certified in accordance with OECD guidelines. Suppliers must cascade these requirements through their own suppliers to ensure rigour throughout the supply chain.

We recognise that determination of the original source of many of the materials used in our supply chain will be a difficult and lengthy process. Despite these challenges, we are committed to working with our suppliers and industrial partners to take all practical steps to meet customer requirements and assure supply chain compliance.

Chemicals management

We are focused on the managed reduction and phase out of the use of substances targeted by REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals) and similar regulations.

We apply stringent rules and processes in the use of all chemicals in the workplace, ensuring any hazards are appropriately minimised and controlled, substituting with safer alternatives where we can. We expect our suppliers to do the same. Some of the materials covered by the REACH legislation are critical in enabling our high technology products to work in a safe and efficient manner. We will not compromise product safety.

Where there are restrictions or permit requirements to chemical use in some legal jurisdictions, we will pursue opportunities to substitute with available alternatives or apply for permits to continue use. In such cases we will maintain strict substance management and exposure controls.

We work with industry partners to develop and qualify alternatives for use in new production and aftermarket applications. In the meantime, we also actively seek permits as required to continue the use of regulated substances in order to ensure product integrity and supply continuity.

Our position on climate change

Our world is changing. At Rolls-Royce we recognise that human activity is increasing the levels of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and accelerating global climate change. Increasing global population and wealth drives demand for power and mobility. This substantiates our vision to pioneer the power that matters.

Our Group governance framework sets out how we govern our business, manage risk, and make sure standards are maintained across our global operations. Environment and sustainability are a core component of this framework.

We have an Environment Council, chaired by an External Leadership Team member, which comprises representatives of all businesses and key functions. Its role is to formulate and implement environmental policy and co-ordinate all related activities across the Group.

To complement our own expertise, we have an independent Environmental Advisory Committee, with respected members from academia, who review what we're doing and make recommendations to the Group on our product and operational strategies. We place great value on the independent advice this Committee provides.

The Committee consists of the following members:

Professor Sir John Beddington (Chair)
Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, UK

Professor Paulo Ferrao
Instituto Superior Tecnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal

Professor Piers Forster
University of Leeds, UK

Professor Eric Paterson
Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech), Virginia USA

Sustainability data

We measure and report about the impacts of our business operations and activities. This reporting is informed by our materiality assessment and the needs and expectations of our external stakeholders.

View our performance data charts

Project Sunshine

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