Guidelines for sustainable signage at sport events

At Antalis, we are committed to paving the way towards more responsible POSM solutions, in line with the expectations of our employees, customers and their own business communities. But that’s not all. Our athletic approach to corporate responsibility drives us to go the extra mile and raise the bar regarding branding and signage solutions for inspiring events worldwide.

What challenges for branding and signage materials?

They are not only a highly visible aspect of events. They are often the number one source of single-use plastic, a significant part of which is still being landfilled or incinerated. In that context and with environmental stakes higher than ever, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) have recently been investigating improvement opportunities in these areas.

That’s why the IOC and UEFA teamed up with Anthesis, a B Corp independent consultancy specialising in environmental impact assessment! Its mission? To compare lifecycle data for a range of branding and signage materials and develop guiding principles to help decision-making.

What is a Life Cycle Assessment?

An LCA is a methodology designed to quantify and compare environmental impacts of products from the point of raw material extraction to their end of life, using four primary indicators: climate change, water usage, toxicity, and circularity potential.

The guidelines produced from the report are a-plenty and valuable. The document provides detailed guidance on end-of-life options to manage plastics better, promote circularity, reduce footprint, and minimise material weight. Anthesis also provides the IOC and UEFA material-specific insights for metals, timber, PVC (vs non-PVC alternatives) and bio-based materials.

Snapshot of several guidelines

• The lighter the product, the better;
• For longer-lasting products, there are trade-offs between the impact of the material and durability (for instance, recycled polypropylene (PP) floor tiles have a much higher impact than single-use PP carpet due to their weight; however, they are designed to be used for 10+ years, which spreads the impact over a longer timeframe);
• End-of-life planning needs to be considered as early as conception and design);
• Biobased materials can be environmentally beneficial, but impacts need to be weighed up, etc.
• The study's findings are currently being used to review and improve procurement criteria. And as leading sports organisations, the IOC and UEFA are determined to share the results with other committed parties. This shows how strong the ambition to raise awareness on this topic is.

As the extraordinary athletes these organisations celebrate, our ambition is to do better. We, therefore, welcome your feedback to improve this knowledge, beneficial to all.

Contact us now!