Why It’s Time to Ditch PVC Banners: Greener Event Signage is Here

EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS are amongst the most transitory experiences. The promotion and build-up may run for months or even years, but the events themselves typically are limited to days. They may be trade shows, public exhibitions, music festivals, or sporting events for examples. Even large international sports events such as the Olympic Games or World Cup soccer tournaments are spread over four or five weeks at most.

Likewise, the lifetime of the venue branding, wayfinding, and transport signage that accompanies them varies from a couple of days to the weeks of the crucial period. But what happens when the show is over, the conference closed, or the Cup won? Where do all those graphics go?

Mostly they wind up in the trash, destined for eventual landfill or incineration. This isn’t good because many of the materials — in particular PVC banners — don’t recycle well (or at all), so there’s often no commercial value to the used products.

Given that Big Picture’s 2024 Application and Usage Survey showed that banners are produced by two out of every three respondents, it’s certain that there’s still a lot of PVC being printed and then thrown away after use.

Any PVC print product reclaimed for recycling must be downgraded for other industrial purposes. Continued use of PVC in wide-format print therefore requires a steady stream of new material to be manufactured.

Dirty Deeds

The environmental problem with PVC is not so much in the material itself, but in what it’s made from and what happens when you try to dispose of it. The production process involves vinyl chloride, a gas that can cause certain types of cancer. Also, phthalates, which are a group of chemicals that are endocrine disruptors by mimicking hormones that occur naturally in the human body. This can interfere with growth, fertility, and other aspects of reproduction.

Burning PVC releases toxic and potentially carcinogenic gases, including dioxins — another endocrine disruptor — and hydrochloric acid. Sending it to landfill can allow toxic products of its eventual breakdown to leach into the soil, thus contaminates water tables.

The complex multi-layered construction of banner materials means they cannot be recycled for further print use. Any PVC print product reclaimed for recycling must be downgraded for other industrial purposes. Continued use of PVC in wide-format print therefore requires a steady stream of new material to be manufactured.

PVC-free banner alternatives are available in the form of materials that are tear-resistant, flame-retardant, weldable, and compatible with UV, latex and UV gel printers.

Cleaning Up Our Act

After taking a hit during the Covid-19 pandemic, the market for event signage has recovered and continues to grow, remaining a significant business opportunity. Smithers estimates total global signage production reaching more than 10.4 billion square meters in 2028*, of which 15% or a bit more is expected to be banners. The Big Picture Application and Usage Survey suggests this application has a gross profit margin of around 69%.

No one wants to turn away banner work when it’s such a major — and valuable — part of the mix for so many wide-format printers. To meet client expectations and your own sustainability goals, there needs to be a cleaner, greener way.

The good news is that PVC-free banner alternatives are available in the form of materials that are tear-resistant, flame retardant, weldable, and compatible with UV, latex and UV gel printers. All the while yielding the same flexibility and tensile strength as PVC-based materials. It also has been designed with end-of-life disposal in mind, using a biodegradable coating, and is even safe for incineration.

Switching away from PVC-based materials isn’t just about reducing the use of dangerous materials in their manufacturing and disposal, with benefits for human health at both ends of the products’ life.

The Bigger Picture

Switching away from PVC-based materials isn’t just about reducing the use of dangerous materials in their manufacturing and disposal, with the benefits for human health at both ends of the products’ life. But it also is a part of the broader sustainability trend. Many large consumer-facing enterprises are keen to respond to their customers’ desire to support more environmentally responsible businesses. Equally, the organizers of large-scale events are looking to do the right thing, either through their own beliefs and values or because of their clients’.

For example, sustainability was a big focus at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, with a wide range of environmental impact-reducing initiatives across all aspects of the event, focusing on everything from transport to energy to food.

Closer to home in the U.S., Seattle-based Kavalan user SuperGraphics produces large exterior banners for concerts featuring top-tier artists at Seattle’s Lumen Field. The management group for Lumen Field, First & Goal, Inc., extends its sustainability initiatives and drive for carbon neutrality to its suppliers.

SuperGraphics’ President Reid Baker says that the banners “combine exceptional quality with environmental responsibility.” “By ordering in bulk, SuperGraphics ensures this sustainable solution remains accessible to clients at no additional cost, making green choices practical and impactful,” he adds.

SuperGraphics produces banners for Lumen Field using Kavalan Spiderweb Mesh, a PVC-free and 100% recyclable material that supports First & Goal’s sustainability initiatives. PHOTO: SuperGraphics

Moving away from products that contain toxic materials and that present an end-of-life disposal problem is an easy win. And it’s a simple differentiating argument that you can make to event customers, even if they aren’t especially sustainability-focused themselves.

Whether you do it to retain business, to win more, or just because you know it’s the right thing to do for the people who you share the planet with, you can now dump the use of PVC in your banner work, safe in the knowledge that no one else has to dump it afterwards.

* Smithers: The Future of Printed Signage in a Digital World to 2028