Pop-up stores or activations can last as little as a few hours or as long as a few months. However, most such displays carry a significant environmental cost once the activation is finished.
That’s because they are traditionally built from MDF, a cheap material made from recycled woodchips – glued together with formaldehyde, a carcinogenic substance that renders the material unable to be repurposed afterwards and which takes years to break down in landfill.
Now, there are alternatives, with one durable, complete solution called Re-board – now being used in Australia by brands including Clinique, Ben Sherman, Coca-Cola, Sephora and The Iconic – that is not only carbon neutral but can be even carbon negative, or in other words, climate positive.
Pranil Chandra, head of sales at Next Printing, says retailers often are unaware of the impact of MDF on the environment – and more importantly, that there are environmentally sustainable alternatives.
“Most brand owners don’t realise the options available to them, because they rely on the agencies that deliver the activations,” explains Chandra.
Strong enough to support a car
Re-board is a re-engineered corrugated board, made with water-based glues. It is essentially cardboard, but with one very big difference: it is extremely strong, even capable of supporting a car. It can be printed using eco-friendly plant-based inks, and the components of a display can be fitted together with biodegradable double-sided tape, or c-links, also made from Re-board. Some Re-board installations Next Printing has created are designed to fit together without any need for tape or binding.
The material is lightweight, thus reducing transportation costs, and at the end of the installation’s life, it can be recycled through the normal waste paper stream, as with normal cardboard. If it does end up in a landfill, it degrades quickly and naturally.
“The emissions from Re-board are significantly lower than from MDF or other materials,” confirms Chandra. “In fact, if used properly it can have a negative carbon footprint.”
Emission calculations
Chandra says Next Printing can calculate and predict the emissions from any project using Re-board (or other materials, eco-friendly or not) so customers know the environmental impact of their project at the outset. When the installation has run its course, a post-analysis will show the actual carbon emissions with the projected figure and even offer a comparison against MDF, so brands can be sure of their impact.
“Activation agencies can use that information to ‘sell’ the Re-board solution to their customers – the brand owners – but more importantly from the brand’s perspective, they can concisely present that information to their end consumers so they can see the brand is committed to being as sustainable as possible.” The data can also be used in a brand’s ESG reporting.
“When we talk about sustainability and carbon emissions, we take everything into account, all the way from planting the tree for the Re-board to be created from, the impact of us creating the product using our printers, through to delivery, installation and disassembly, to the customer or ourselves disposing of it for recycling – or sending it to landfill. We can estimate carbon emissions involved over the whole life cycle of the project at the time of quotation and provide a breakdown at the end,” explains Chandra.
“With sustainability agendas, a lot of brand owners are focused on their really big costs, around the use of their raw materials and making their products, the way the electricity they use is generated, or how sustainable their office building or warehouse is, for example. Their display needs have taken a backseat. But now, especially with the changes happening in Europe around legislation being put in place regarding businesses being carbon neutral, displays and store fit-outs are being looked at more critically. It is no longer good enough for businesses to just do what they’ve always done if alternatives are out there.”
Examples of Next Printing’s carbon studies for customers who switched from MDF to recyclable materials and eco-friendly processes for their displays include cloud software specialist Adobe, which achieved an almost 85 per cent reduction – equivalent to 2745.47 km of car travel – just by using Re-board for its displays. Another client, Priceline, cut its emissions by around 70 per cent.
The cost equation
Re-board typically costs 10 to 20 per cent more than MDF and other less eco-friendly alternatives. But that calculation fails to take into account efficiencies in assembly – it typically takes far less time to assemble Re-board structures and there are savings in fixture and fitting components. And then there is the cost to the environment of using materials that are not eco-friendly.
“Agencies tend to say they want to do it the way they’ve always done it, because they are pitching to the brand and they need to fit the project into a specific budget. We want the brands to urge their agencies to do the right thing environmentally. It is not only Re-board – there are other alternatives out there – and if the discussion is being led by the brands, agencies know they have these choices.”
Sydney-headquartered Next Printing was founded 20 years ago, when its parent company, the photographic film developing and printing specialist Photo King, recognised the impact digital photography would have on its business model and looked to diversify. Started as a large-format printing house, Next Printing has spent the past eight years focusing on more sustainable printing options and mastering the complexities of Re-board, especially. It now serves customers across Australia and New Zealand
Large format printing often wasteful
“The large format printing industry in general is very wasteful,” shares Chandra. “A lot of the stuff created for retail campaigns lasts only a month or two – sometimes just days or even hours – and they are full of plastic.” Moreover, brands – especially those considered high-end – love shiny displays and beautiful, eye-catching installations, says Chandra. Unfortunately, those are usually made from plastic.
“We went to Sweden and Japan to identify different products and Re-board was the one we identified we wanted to work with. It took us four or five years to master what Re-board-based materials can do.”
There is a misconception in business that if you’re going to have something sustainable, it’s not going to look as good as the alternatives, a myth Chandra wants to shatter.
Often we get new customers come to us and they look at an installation and ask which element is Re-board? We say all of it. That – and the perception that sustainability is a lot more expensive – are big challenges for us.
Bright, eye-catching and engaging
As the images in the slider above testify, Next Printing can build bright, eye-catching and engaging installations – it has even converted a store into a train carriage completely out of Re-board.
Next Printing can advise from initial design and project management, through to graphics, design and installation. “After the build, we can take the product down and recycle it, so we provide a complete end-to-end solution.
“Re-board-based or other sustainable products now account for about 35 per cent of Next Printing’s business, significant given that just two years ago the share was only around 10 per cent. However, that still means that 65 per cent of the business relies on traditional, non-sustainable alternatives.
“We want to take our customers on a journey to show them how much more sustainable they can become. And obviously, our future customers as well.”
