Clean energy-tech company Aira has partnered with Charis Williams, aka ‘The Salvage Sister,’ to explore upcycling disused boilers into beautifully designed furniture. With the UK government aiming to replace 600,000 boilers annually by 2028 with greener alternatives, the new prototypes demonstrate what could be done with the millions of boilers destined for the scrap heap.
This campaign also promotes the benefits of switching to heat pumps, which reduce CO2 emissions by at least 75% and help customers save 20% on heating costs, averaging £500 in annual bills when combined with the Aira Zero tariff.
As part of the collaboration, Charis created a functional chair and electric table lamp from old gas boilers, spending 23 days transforming them into items that emit no carbon.
This initiative aims to raise awareness of waste’s impact on the environment and inspire societal change in attitudes towards waste. Charis faced challenges ensuring the chair’s fixings could support an adult’s weight, utilising various tools and materials in the process. The finished items will be displayed at one of Aira’s clean energy-tech hubs.
This launch coincides with The United Nations World Cleanup Day 2024 on September 20th, to highlight the pressures of waste on the global climate and to raise awareness of the environmental benefits of upcycling.
According to the Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 produced by UNEP, the production of municipal solid waste will increase by nearly 2 billion tons and hit 3.8 billion tons by 2050. Aira and The Salvage Sister want the project to inspire further societal change in attitudes towards waste in general.
Pamela Brown, CMO of Aira Group, says: “Switching to a heat pump and ditching a gas boiler is needed on many fronts – to help people reduce heating bills as we head into winter and importantly to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from heating, which contributes to almost one third of the UK’s annual carbon footprint. With this partnership, we want to show how symbols of pollution and environmental damage, such as gas boilers, can be transformed and given a new lease of life as household items that we can all enjoy. We see the sculptures as lasting reminders of the potential to rebuild our society, to help us create a cleaner, more climate-friendly future.”
Charis Williams AKA ‘The Salvage Sister’, adds: “Creating beautiful and useful items out of scrap, redundant parts and salvage is what I do, whether I’m making functional items like furniture and chandeliers or sculptures. I started working with scrap to highlight the epic amounts of useable materials being sent to landfill needlessly.
“When Aira asked me if I could make furniture from old boilers, I knew it would be a challenge, for a start – I wasn’t sure what I’d find inside, other than pipework! But I love a challenge, and if anyone could make this happen… it was going to be me! I jumped at the chance to work with Aira, we have the same ethos, and I love their Scandi style.”
