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SINGAPORE, 10 September — Eco-Business and Singapore-registered charity EB Impact have announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration with Jens Ritter Instruments, the German luthier renowned for turning electric guitars into sculptural art, to create an original art guitar handcrafted entirely from plastic waste collected in Singapore. The instrument transforms discarded material into a functioning, playable piece of art – a tangible symbol of what becomes possible when sustainability meets creative imagination. It will launch and be exhibited at Unlocking capital for sustainability 2026, hosted at AT ONE Impact Week 2026, at Suntec City from 8 to 12 September 2026, with Jens Ritter travelling to Singapore to unveil the piece himself. From Waste to WonderPlastic pollution is one of the most visible symptoms of a throwaway economy, and Singapore, like every dense urban centre, generates its share of it. Rather than treating that waste as a problem to be hidden away, the collaboration asks a different question: what if it became the raw material for something people want to look at, talk about, and even play? The guitar’s body is made of 100% polypropylene derived from plastic waste collected in Singapore by social enterprise Plastify, which sources material from community donations, corporate partnerships and beach clean-ups. The plastic is melted at around 200 degrees Celsius and compressed using a sheet press, giving each piece its distinctive marbled blue-and-white finish — a design inspired by ocean ecosystems that are so often polluted by plastic trash. Jens Ritter has spent his career pushing the electric guitar beyond its function as an instrument, building pieces that sit somewhere between music and sculpture. Bringing that sensibility to reclaimed Singaporean plastic gives the waste a second life with real presence: it is no longer anonymous debris, but the body of an instrument with its own voice. Why Art, and Why NowSustainability messaging often struggles to move people the way a striking object can. Statistics about tonnes of plastic entering waste streams are easy to scroll past – but art can compress complex problems into something felt in a single glance, and that emotional entry point is often what turns awareness into action. The art guitar builds on the momentum of WASTED, Eco-Business’s award-winning impact documentary that spotlights the unprecedented volume of trash generated in the Anthropocene era. Produced, written and directed by Jessica Cheam and Fraser Morton, WASTED traverses five Asian countries and follows the United Nations negotiations held in Busan, South Korea in 2024 to forge a global, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. The film has won multiple international awards, including official selections at the Boston Film Festival, the Toronto Documentary Feature & Short Film Festival, the Bangkok Movie Awards and the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, and has screened in cinemas, schools and venues around the world. “We are thrilled to launch this project with Jens Ritter Instruments, which not only brings attention to the circular economy approaches we need to urgently deploy in our economies today, but also turn our focus to the health of our ocean ecosystems and why this is especially important in Asia,” said Cheam, Founder and CEO, Eco-Business and Chair of the Board, EB Impact. “For me, creating guitars is a form of composition. Just as musicians shape their feelings and thoughts through sound, I express my own through the pieces I create,” said Jens Ritter. The guitar’s public life will unfold in three stages over the next year: Exhibited at Impact Week — The guitar debuts publicly AT ONE Impact Week 2026, presented alongside Jens Ritter’s story of craftsmanship and reinvention. One year in Singapore — The instrument will be housed at The Nanson, a private members’ social club in Singapore and a home for curious minds, bringing together business leaders, creatives, entrepreneurs and cultural thinkers. The guitar will also be loaned to and played by Singaporean guitarists over the following year, extending its story and reach across the local music community. Auctioned for EB Impact — In 2027, the guitar will be auctioned at EB Impact’s charity gala, converting a year of storytelling and activations into direct funding for EB Impact’s youth and education programmes — ensuring the story the guitar tells continues to create opportunities for young people long after any single exhibition ends. You are invited to join us for From Waste to Wonder: A conversation with Jens Ritter on 12 September, 3-5pm at The Nanson. You can also contact us for interview requests. We welcome your coverage and support, thank you! |
About Eco-BusinessEstablished in 2009, Eco-Business is Asia Pacific’s leading business intelligence platform dedicated to advancing sustainable development. We produce trusted, high-quality multimedia content exploring the world’s most pressing challenges—and the solutions driving change. Our work is aligned with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and supported by a 15-year archive of news, analysis, research, and events on sustainable development topics. Headquartered in Singapore, we have a presence in Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Beijing, and London. For more information, visit www.eco-business.com About EB ImpactEB Impact is Singapore-registered charity that delivers youth and education programmes. It organises the annual flagship TSYF (The Sustainability Youth Festival) which support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals – among them SDG 4.7 (education for sustainable development), SDG 12.8 (awareness of sustainable lifestyles) and SDG 13.3 (climate change education and awareness) – with the aim of building a more compassionate, connected and sustainable society. About Jens Ritter InstrumentsJens Ritter is a German artist and master luthier whose work centres on the functional, sculptural and cultural potential of the electric guitar. Raised in an environment shaped by craftsmanship, art and music, he developed a distinct creative language early in life, later refining it through mechanical arts studies and hands-on training within his family’s workshop tradition. For thirty years, Ritter has created avant-garde electric guitars for internationally renowned musicians, with works held in the permanent collections of The MET, the Smithsonian Institution and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and played by artists including Prince, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Mary J. Blige, Nile Rodgers, Van Halen, Grateful Dead and Dave Grohl. |
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