Green Retail: Why materials make the difference at the POS
Sustainability has become a decisive factor for businesses across the globe: Consumers are increasingly challenging companies to be more progressive and to shift their goals towards objectives for a better future. Besides offering sustainable products, the store itself also plays a crucial part. For the fastest results in the field of retail design, brands have to look into the choice of materials for temporary window campaigns or marketing activations. The selection of raw and recyclable options might only be a small step, but will turn out to be a quick and easy win as it ensures a significant reduction in the CO2 footprint which is measured in CO2e.
Find insights into the overall materials categories and why they make a difference, plus five specific examples that will invite retailers to get inspired for their next store or window campaign.
There are three main categories of recyclable materials — each with unique characteristics that contribute to more sustainability.
1. Virgin Materials
Virgin materials are a good choice, if they can be recycled after their first usage. As lots of common options are made of limited resources, recycling is a great measure to make the most of them and enable a second life, if they are disposed of correctly. The most common ones are plastics made from fossil oil, aluminum, or separated materials in general.
2. Upcycled / Downcycled Materials
Many products can be reused for another purpose after their first usage — by either upcycling or downcycling them. The idea behind upcycling is to create new products out of used ones by changing their usage without destroying the material: for example, turning used bottles or light bulbs into vases or plant pots. Downcycling involves the destruction of waste in order to create new material that is technically less complex and upscale in its characteristics but can be used for new purposes, like canvas materials made from used PET bottles or real wood being used to make medium-density fiberboard (MDF).
Upcycling processes are playing an increasingly central role in store design, for example in the flagship store in Tokyo of Spanish fair fashion label Ecoalf, which features recycled materials from a leather factory, scaffolding boards from a construction process and other upcycled elements.
3. Renewable & Biodegradable Materials
Materials like bamboo, hemp, paper, cardboard or wood without any chemicals can be naturally and organically degraded over time. If they are disposed of correctly, this results in a circular recycling process that contributes to the biological cycle.
In the long term, it is safe to say that upcycled or downcycled material as well as renewable and biodegradable ones are the best options so far. Of these, the latter has the greatest potential for becoming a long-term solution because of the cradle-to-cradle aspect, meaning all components of a material can be decomposed and returned to nature. Consequently, those materials should be preferred whenever possible.
Here is a selection of specific material examples from the three main categories, plus more insights into their use cases and respective CO2e footprints in comparison to using standard campaign materials.
Stone Veneer — Rocking Surfaces
A virgin material, stone veneer is a real stone material with only a thin layer of stone. It is a good alternative to plastic laminates and can be used for furniture or wall surfaces. The CO2e footprint depends on the specific usage.
Ocean Plastic Canvas — From the Sea into the Windows
Here, ocean plastic gets a second life as canvas. This brings two advantages: Firstly, the collected waste can be reused, and secondly, it can be recycled in the technical loop as recyclable plastic. This downcycled material is often used for direct prints of campaign images to be used in smart frames. Using ocean plastic canvas leads to cutting CO2e by more than 35%.
Second Life Plastic — Creating New Design Aesthetics
Downcycled plastic is made from plastic bottles, packaging and chopping boards. It appears, for example, in store designs of the Danish fashion brand Ganni or the Amsterdam-based eyewear manufacturer Ace & Tate.
The advantage: by downcycling existing materials, landfill waste is reduced, and at the end of life, it can be recycled in the technical loop as recyclable plastic. Second life plastic is likely to be used for window or instore props with a decorative surface that influences or even becomes part of the design. Opting for this downcycled material ensures more than 70% reduction of CO2e.
Cardboard Display Board — Replacing PVC
Produced from natural, renewable resources like wood, cardboard display boards are compostable and can be disposed of together with paper waste for recycling. This renewable and biodegradable material is a good choice for window and instore displays or presenters to replace plastic or foam boards containing PVC, with up to 95% reduction of CO2e.
Recycled cardboard was used, among other sustainable materials, in Adidas’ sustainable retail campaign “Stan Smith, Forever,” which was largely made from paper, cardboard and wood.
Biofiber Boards — Biodegradable Alternative
Made from wood waste from sawmills, biofiber boards are like regular MDF, but more compressed with the positive side effect that no synthetic binders are needed. Instead of these, lignin — the natural glue within the wood fiber — escapes during compression and binds the fibers together. After use, the material can be naturally biodegraded. Biofiber boards can be used for window and in-store props and are a better alternative to standard MDF. Depending on the degree of compression, it offers up to 40% reduction of CO2e.
Proven greener: a real selling point in the 21st century
By switching to sustainable material options, retailers can significantly reduce the CO2e footprint of their temporary store campaigns: depending on the specific activation and the final material selection, the CO2e footprint can be reduced by up to approximately 75% in comparison to choosing materials that are conventionally used for temporary activations. As transparency is key, the “Designer Helper” calculation tool by LIGANOVA enables brands to compare different options based on their CO2e footprint, and indicates which materials should be used in the design stage. Contrary to general assumptions, those new solutions are not always automatically more expensive than conventional ones. For a global sports brand’s campaign, choosing a green material alternative led to saving 68.3% in CO2e on material alone, while keeping the cost almost at the same level as previously. Finally, selecting sustainable materials can have a big impact on the planet and contribute to a noticeable difference in the POS environment.
About Torsten Dietz
Torsten Dietz is Managing Director at LIGANOVA and responsible for the Business Unit Global POS Campaign. LIGANOVA is an innovation leader specializing in Brand & Retail Experiences in the phygital space. With over 10 years of experience in international retail marketing and a keen sense of the changing retail landscape, he focuses on developing sustainable and digital concepts for the point-of-sale of international brands.
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