Lockerbie: A Search for Truth

Sustainability actions by theme

Materials

One of the considerations for materials were the set builds. Production built a replica Camp Zeist courtroom, a prison, a residential street, the interior of a plane and multiple newsroom sets. While the courtroom and residential street sets were chiefly built using traditional construction materials and methods, the Art department and Construction team incorporated second hand where possible. For the prison set, they retrofitted an existing set at Kelvinhall Studio in Glasgow, cutting costs and reducing the need to build from scratch.

While filming a 1980s to early 2000s period drama, the Costumes, Props and Hair & Makeup all had to be appropriate for different time periods. These materials needed to be carefully sourced and handled responsibly once filming wrapped. Most of these items were hired or purchased second hand, with a limited number of new items bought.

In addition to sourcing second hand, the production trialled Vectar board, an innovative paper-based material that’s 100% recyclable, for constructing the newsroom sets. An unforeseen benefit of using Vectar board was its lightweight construction, which made it easier and safer for the Props team to move flats by elevator up to the sixth floor of City of Glasgow College. Building these sets from Vectar board – rather than using a more carbon-intensive material like MDF wood – reduced carbon emissions by around 87%.

Transport & power

With transport and power representing another significant source of carbon emissions, the production focused on practical opportunities for reduction in fuel without disrupting day-to-day operations. We prioritised low-carbon fuels, used hybrid-battery generators, and helped cast & crew travel more sustainably.

Battery technology played a role in the production’s sustainable power planning. Lockerbie hybridised a unit base generator with a battery which allowed the production to run primarily on battery power several hours at a time. This was especially useful in residential areas and near wildlife as it reduced noise pollution as well as air pollution.

When generators were needed, we switched to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) over conventional diesel. HVO is a fuel made from renewable feedstocks such as cooking oil with up to 70% lower lifecycle emissions than conventional diesel. HVO is also an EN 15940 certified fuel which means it can be blended with diesel without requiring any changes to the engine. This made it a good option for both generators and vehicles to easily switch to HVO.

It was also important to have the right logistics in place to support this. We worked with the studio and Pyramids Business Park to install a 3,000L fuel cube to store the fuel in and, along with vehicles and our locations team, refilled the 1,000L towable bowsers from here for distribution to generators at unit base and on set.

Electric vehicle (EV) availability presented additional challenges as they were in limited supply in Scotland in 2024. Despite this, Production hired one unit car for cast, supported by the existing EV chargers at the production office. We also sourced EVs for crew members who had charger access at home or within walking distance. This resulted in one Locations crew member switching to an EV, delivering significant emissions savings due to the high mileage required of this type of role in the Locations department.

Behavioral changes also contributed to transport emissions reductions. We conducted a car sharing survey to identify opportunities to support crew that relied on public transport or could benefit from sharing driving responsibilities. This was a great success – one crew member who didn’t drive was able to hop in with another crew member who they didn’t know lived nearby, and another two people were able to split the driving by alternating who drove each day. Cast had a role to play in reducing transport emissions as well. Many chose to car share with other cast members and chose trains over planes if the travel time was less than 6 hours. With so many people, differing start/finish times and geographical locations to coordinate, taking just one car off the road was considered a success.

Catering

On Lockerbie, we worked with catering to offer lower-impact menu options,, including removing beef from the menu to reduce carbon emissions. Due to the land, feed, and methane emissions associated with cattle production, beef has a higher environmental footprint than most other foods. As a result, reducing or removing beef from menus, while keeping lower impact options like chicken and fish, can have a greater impact on lowering emissions than introducing a single vegetarian or vegan day.

Preordering helped limit the impact of catering as well. We setup a WhatsApp group with a junior member from each department so they could submit lunch pre-orders for everyone on their team. This helped reduce food waste as the caterers could prepare the specific number of meals requested. There was, of course, always lenience and additional meals cooked to be safe, but we rarely had more than 10 portions of food go uneaten.

Waste

Lockerbie introduced a simplified waste system designed to make correct sorting easy and intuitive for cast and crew. We made signs for the bins to help guide people to put the correct item into the correct bin. One of the reasons waste management among large groups is difficult is because our local councils and various waste suppliers find it difficult to agree on the same colour for bins. This results in people being constantly confused about what goes in what bin – their home is different from their workplace, which is different from events they attend, which is different from their friend’s house. As best practice, we followed Biffa’s guidance anytime we were unsure. It is imperative to avoid “wishcycling”, which means ‘putting items into a recycling bin that cannot be recycled’.

We also combined food and compostables into a single collection stream and the production’s location waste hauler reduced the number of bins on set. Materials were prioritized for recycling and composting, with remaining waste sent for energy recovery rather than landfill.

Reuse/donations

Once the production wrapped, we worked to donate and reuse any materials left over from filming.

My favourite part of working in sustainability in film & TV is giving back to the communities we temporarily occupy and film in. When City of Glasgow College asked if they could keep any of the Vectar board sets to inspire their students, Carnival Films donated all three sets to them so the students could learn about using more sustainable materials in set design.

The costumes that weren’t hired for the production were donated to Collection 4 Clothes and Smart Works Scotland, and a pile of 40+ blankets were donated to Refuweegee. The Set Decoration team purchased plane parts from Air Salvage International and made sure they were properly recycled afterward through local waste supplier Reigart. The Props team also purchased many of the items seen onscreen from charity shops and vintage businesses, so they were easily donated back after wrap.

Finally, Move On Wood Recycling was a charity organisation based in Edinburgh which we contacted during early construction of the Camp Zeist courtroom to discuss reuse when filming came to an end. Move On Wood Recycling’s operational manager came down to the set one morning to do a walk through with the construction team and me and discussed what could be salvaged and what was glued together and couldn’t be broken down. Ultimately, they were able to take the full 300 cubic yards of timber at a lower cost than recycling skip hire!

Positive change

I’m extremely grateful to have witnessed a positive mindset change among crew I worked with on Lockerbie. These sustainable working practices have inspired me as I continue to work on other productions.

Some final key takeaways:

• Support from leadership and dedicated staffing play a key role. My dedicated role as Sustainability Coordinator, working in tandem with Alex’s role as Sustainability Consultant, was supported by leadership which allowed environmental considerations to be considered in planning and day-to-day decisions.
• Local knowledge helps transfer lessons across geographies. While Carnival brought experience from productions elsewhere, working closely with Scottish suppliers, facilities, and charities allowed adoption to local infrastructure and conditions.
• Sustainable choices can make an impact. From reuse and donations to community partnerships, decisions made during production can extend the life of materials and have a long-lasting positive impact.