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Prop Up in the UK takes props and other materials from TV and film sets and recycles, resells, or rehomes the items in the communities where the shows and films were shot.
After filming wrapped on the iconic Gene Wilder version of Willy Wonka in 1970, the movie’s Bavarian studio was promptly cleared to make way for the filming of Cabaret. In the rush to vacate the lot, thousands of props were discarded — including all but one of the movie’s golden ticket-bearing “scrumdiddlyumptious” bars.
Sadly, stories like these are common on TV and movie sets, where tight schedules, small budgets, and harried production staff have often made recycling a low priority. Waste has been a pervasive issue in the TV and film industries, and it’s the planet that takes the hit.
By the time friends Emma Chaplin and Kate Allan met on a UK TV set in 2011, little had changed since the days of Willy Wonka. Tasked with storing or discarding endless props and materials from the set, “we were constantly thinking: there’s got to be a better use for this stuff,” Emma says.
The issue played on Emma and Kate’s minds until 2021, when a Covid-induced industry pause gave them breathing space to tackle it head on. That year, Prop Up was born: a non-profit devoted to recycling props and set materials back into local communities.
“Everyone always had a conscience about [the waste],” Kate explains, pointing out that informal networks and Facebook groups have facilitated recycling from sets for several years. Yet nobody, it seemed, had ever tried to tackle the issue at scale. At the heart of Prop Up is a simple idea: a production company hands off their props and set materials to Kate and Emma, who separate and categorize it, then rehome, resell, or recycle everything they can.
Working from hubs in both South and Central London, Kate and Emma practice what they preach — every seat, desk, shelving unit, and decorative item in their Brixton office was salvaged from a TV or film set. “Everything but the shredder!” Kate says.
To date, Prop Up has processed more than 34,000 items from TV and film sets, avoiding tons of unnecessary carbon emissions. Better yet, for those who receive the items, the impact can be life-changing.
Prop Up has helped furnish temporary accommodation for domestic abuse
survivors, given clothing to those experiencing homelessness, and gifted guitars to a charity for single fathers, among dozens of other examples.
The company purposefully redistributes items where productions take place, a way of giving back to communities whose lives have been disrupted by filming. The process can be incredibly moving, Emma and Kate say.
Emma recalls one “massive job” in Essex where a local charity distributed everyday basics to local families in need. It was an area where “some kids were sleeping on the floor with a towel, or using tea towels after baths,” she says. After Prop Up redistributed pots, pans, bedding, and other basics, the local charity’s head responded with a testimonial “that made both of us cry,” Emma says.
The younger generation is so much more aware … if you train people from the very start, they can grow up into the industry with the right mentality. That would be amazing.
– Kate Allan, cofounder of Prop Up
“He told us that they weren’t just pots and pans, that was a healthy meal for the kids. It wasn’t just a duvet, it was a good night’s sleep.”
The venture is a win-win for production companies, who are delighted to have a difficult job taken off their hands while also helping the local community. At the end of the process, Kate and Emma produce an impact report detailing where their items went and outlining anything they couldn’t repurpose.
“We report very transparently about anything that can’t be reused or recycled,” Emma says, pointing out that this usually amounts to no more than “a bin bag of landfill rubbish.”
“Given the number of items we’re dealing with, we think that’s pretty impressive,” she adds.
Looking ahead, Kate and Emma hope to scale Prop Up even further, with dreams of producing a blueprint that could be given to “someone in L.A., Amsterdam, Australia,” who could then set up their own local reuse hubs.
“We’ve even talked about a Prop Up foundation,” says Emma, noting that it could be a way to give young people coming into the industry a sustainability focus.
“The younger generation is so much more aware,” Kate says. “Some people who have been in the industry for years find it difficult to change the way they do things. But if you train people from the very start, they can grow up into the industry with the right mentality. That would be amazing.”
