Following a high number of registrations for its waste management project launched in December 2021, Fespa UK is now expanding the scope to offer a store-direct-to-recycler scheme, initially collecting banner materials but with plans to extend to some rigid media.
Aiming to address some of the issues raised by registrants for the initial programme, the new scheme offers a solution for end-of-campaign banner recycling, by providing either a tube or box system that will allow the end-user to take down the banners, put them in the boxes or tubes and send them directly to the recyclers. As well as boosting the amount of PVC or polyester banner material that is gathered for recycling, this also gives Fespa UK members traceability of their substrates after installation and use.
Fespa UK has also launched a sustainability hub, Responsible Print Solutions, which offers details of various waste management partner companies whose services have been tested by Fespa members.
Suzi Wilkinson, managing director of Fespa UK, said, ‘Our aim with the waste management project and the Responsible Print Solutions site is to do some of the leg work for the printers who want to stop talking about becoming more sustainable and get on and do something about it.
‘We all know talk is cheap and times are changing; soon enough a certificate alone won’t cut it. We want to support our members with initiatives that will help them stay ahead of the game. For me we need to take small steps together, sharing information and supporting each other to achieve a bigger goal for the industry.
‘We need lasting change and this isn’t going to happen overnight, so if that means my team and I spending time researching companies, trying to find great providers to support the industry long term, then so be it.’
Ms Wilkinson also told Digital Printer that after establishing the collection service for banner materials, the plan is to look at rigid display materials such as Correx and possibly vinyls of the type used in vehicle wrapping, but it was a case of establishing the route for one material first. She also noted that ‘contamination’ of banners with different material components such as eyelets was an issue in recycling, as the recyclers are unwilling to remove them and it was ‘understandable’ that printers don’t want to have to either. ‘It’s a headache’, she admitted, adding, ‘But it’s also what we’re here for’.
The tube or box collection programme is open to Fespa UK members and the organisation is actively seeking printers to participate.
