The Museums Association (MA) has voiced its support for a new initiative, designed to encourage the reuse and recycling of exhibition build elements for the UK’s museums.

Museum Freecycle UK, which launched in June, aims to provide a platform for museums to offer each other showcases and other exhibition build items that would otherwise be discarded.

“Museum Freecycle UK is a good complement to the MA’s Find an object search,” said Emma Mitchinson, marketing and sales officer for the MA.

“Where Find an object is for museums looking to acquire, dispose, lend or borrow museum objects subject to the MA’s code of ethics, we hope that Museum Freecycle UK will provide a space for museums to share equipment and items needed to produce exhibitions.

“Museum Freecycle UK is a great initiative that we hope will save museums time and money, and lower the carbon footprint of temporary exhibitions. As such it is a good fit with the MA's sustainability work.”

Caroline Keppel-Palmer, the managing director of Urban Salon, which founded Museum Freecycle UK, said: “Museum Freecycle UK is the first industry-wide and national Freecycle group created. We will learn as we go. We look forward to working with the museum sector to evolve the network and to continue to help museums reuse materials.”