Singapore Airlines (SIA) has launched The Upcycling Project, through which parts and materials of retired commercial aircraft will be given to various Singapore-based organisations and selected global retail brands for onward usage for art and other products.
These upcycled and repurposed products will directly support educational institutions, artists and persons with disabilities.
The first initiative under The Upcycling Project will be a competition organised by SIA and Singapore University of Technology and Design, aimed at promoting awareness about design and upcycling among tertiary and pre-tertiary students in Singapore.
Aircraft parts and materials will also be donated to several educational institutions for use as teaching materials in art and design courses.
Furthermore, SIA has appointed Singapore-based brand and product consultants, Supermama’s Edwin Low and Escano’s Adriana Lim to source for local and global retail brands that are keen to repurpose aircraft parts and materials into products such as furniture, service ware, and fashion apparel and accessories.
Local art consultant Jazz Chong, who helms The Ode to Art gallery, will work with SIA to select Singapore-based artists and sculptors who will create unique artworks with the upcycled materials. For a start, four prominent artists and sculptors have been selected – Baet Yeok Kuan, Kumari Nahappan, Sun Yu-Li, and Yeo Chee Kiong. The completed art pieces will be sold exclusively at The Ode to Art gallery.
Meanwhile, SIA will also work with SG Enable, an agency that supports people with disabilities, in its i’mable Collective initiative. Aircraft parts and materials will be be provided to the i’mable Collective’s makers. The final products will be sold and proceeds go directly to the makers.
Yeoh Phee Teik, SIA’s senior vice president customer experience, said: “There was a lot of interest when we first broached the concept, and we are happy to be able to support a wide range of communities through this initiative.”
