Edinburgh businesses makes a ‘seamless transition’ to sustainability

An innovative new communal working space and sharing facility to help fashion and textiles professionals work sustainably opens today in Edinburgh.

Kalopsia’s The Facility, which is supported by Zero Waste Scotland, launches today at Edinburgh’s Ocean Terminal in the wake of the Scottish Government-backed #MakeThingsLast campaign to highlight ways business and the public can reduce waste – for example, by sharing or leasing.

Students, graduates and start-up companies can work on design and production projects in the shared space, while getting access to trained technicians and taking advantage of micro-manufacturing and prototyping services from Kalopsia. Going forward, The Facility will also make shared equipment available, including knitting and sewing machines, mannequins and CAD embroiderers.

Zero Waste Scotland provided support to help Kalopsia to develop and implement this circular economy business model, which moves away from the traditional make-use-dispose approach to goods and equipment, towards keeping them in high value use for as long as possible.

Adam Robertson, Managing Director, Kalopsia said: “We are so excited to see The Facility come to life and we hope that the circular economy business models developed here will become the new standard for the textiles industry across Scotland and UK.

“With The Facility we hope to build a community of textiles related businesses and individuals who can come together to strengthen our industry and promote the benefits of the circular economy.”

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland said: “This is a great example of how sharing space and equipment can help to reduce our environmental impact and save us money. With car and house sharing services and even tool libraries now available, we’re realising the benefits of sharing and lending, so it’s great to see Kalopsia making a ‘seamless transition’ to this new business opportunity to help make the textile and design industry more sustainable.

“Zero Waste Scotland is on hand to help businesses take advantage of these opportunities and helping turn the idea of a circular economy into reality.”

Dennis Jones, Centre Manager at Ocean Terminal said: “Ocean Terminal is committed to supporting a diverse range of arts, culture and local organisations that brings about diverse range of uses. Kalopsia have worked with Ocean Terminal through a variety of projects and the exciting concept of The Facility and what this offers to Scottish textiles and designers is pioneering within a shopping centre environment.”