Oceanology’s sea change

Subsea trade show Oceanology International has revealed its road map towards sustainable trade shows ahead of its March edition next year. Organiser RX has revealed an ambitious target for all of its events to achieve net zero by 2040, and is now urging exhibitors and contractors to join in the effort to lessen the impact of trade shows all over the world.

“Working with our partners, venues and stakeholders, it’s essential we take a united approach to reach our net zero goals,” says CEO at RX Hugh Jones. “RX is proud to be a founding member of the Net Zero Carbon Events pledge, a global collaboration which was launched by the events industry in 2021 to address the urgent need to limit global warming beyond 1.5 degrees. This pledge commits all signatories to reach net zero by 2050 at the latest and to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. In fact, RELX, our parent company, has made it a priority to reduce its environmental footprint and in 2021 signed up to The Climate Pledge which commits us to reach net zero no later than 2040.”

The Net Zero Carbon Events (NZCE) initiative aims to increase the prevalence of sustainable trade shows by focusing on the emissions associated with the complete life cycle of events from the energy used to the production of stands, signage, carpet, food and associated waste, logistics and travel.

The RX roadmap – which can read in its entirety here – is a comprehensive plan to increase energy efficiency across exhibition venues, reduce material waste, reduce food waste, streamline logistics and to focus on greener travel and sustainable accommodation solutions.

Exhibitors already signed up for Oceanology International – which takes place at the London ExCeL on the 10-12 March next year – are being invited to work with a stand contractor such as Smart Display which adopts a sustainable approach to exhibition stand design and build.

With over 50 per cent of exhibition stand materials still being disposed of after the event (source: ScienceDirect.com), the carbon footprint of temporary architecture cannot be underestimated. Disposable elements such as panels, graphics, fabrics and structural components can all end up in landfill after just two or three days’ use, contributing to a massive global impact on behalf of the exhibitions industry.

Since its inception in 2015, Smart Display has strived to be the antithesis of wasteful exhibition stand build, combining a re-usable modular system with re-usable custom components that can be store and reconfigured from one exhibition to the next.

“Traditionally this industry has generated a lot of waste with disposable stands that are thrown up and discarded but, in the ten years since it was established, Smart Display has tried to be a pioneer in counteracting that,” says Smart Display’s estimator and purchasing manager Christian Schofield. “Most businesses are becoming more eco-aware and have set themselves targets to become more sustainable and, when we partner with these brands, our stand design has to reflect those values and align with those objectives.

“I think the biggest change is that customers aren’t just interested in where materials have come from, they now want to consider where they are going afterwards. And a lot of our clients have multiple shows so, if we can store and re-use the elements, we do and that makes for more sustainable trade shows. A good example is a new board I found recently that is recycled and 100 per cent recyclable, which we can swap out a lot of our current Foamex for. It cuts out waste because, unfortunately, after a few uses, Foamex does end up in landfill. These small changes across hundreds of exhibition stands across thousands of events worldwide made a big difference collectively.”

If you are inspired to join the movement at Oceanology or any other exhibition you have booked in for this year or next, talk to us today. We can talk through your requirements to create a statement stand design that aligns with your sustainability goals and helps towards a greener, more sustainable future for the events industry #wemakeevents