Iain Gulland and Catriona Patterson, sustainability officer for Edinburgh Festivals, at the swap shop

The Edinburgh Festival has played its part in the circular economy by recycling props that would otherwise be discarded.

A Fringe Swap Shop, supported by Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Zero Waste Scotland, and backed by the Scottish Government and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), enabled numerous items to find new uses.

Iain Gulland, chief executive at Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Edinburgh is one of the world’s leading cultural cities and our ambition is to make it one of the world’s leading circular cities – where all resources are used to their maximum, for the benefit of people, business and the environment.”

Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said there was a commitment to reducing paper usage by at least a third by 2022.   

Later this year, a workshop a workshop will look at ways of developing a circular economy approach within the festivals.