Sustainable Signs

Often seen used for trade show booths, flags and banners, polyester fabric is UV and water-resistant. While it is cheap to manufacture, the process generates a lot of waste. The sustainable signage alternative is cotton or other natural fabrics that aren’t derived from plastics. Also, rather than using inks, colouring should be achieved through the use of dyes.

Often seen used for trade show booths, flags and banners, polyester fabric is UV and water-resistant. While it is cheap to manufacture, the process generates a lot of waste. The sustainable signage alternative is cotton or other natural fabrics that aren’t derived from plastics. Also, rather than using inks, colouring should be achieved through the use of dyes.

Sometimes referred to as ‘expanded PVC’, foamed PVC is rigid, lightweight and scratch-resistant, leading to it being used widely in vehicle manufacturing and outdoor signage. While it’s durable and versatile, it’s not recyclable or biodegradable, which is why metal and wood are the better, eco-friendly signage options.

Described by some as ‘bulletproof glass’ polycarbonate is a plastic that’s transparent and lightweight and used for large pylon, marquee and retail signs. Sadly, it’s not recyclable or biodegradable, so it usually ends up in landfill. The sustainable signage alternative here is glass, which is infinitely recyclable and scratchproof – something you can’t say about polycarbonate.

Comprising a steel matrix covered by vinyl, flexible magnetic sheeting is popular for decals and magnetic stickers. However, it’s one of the eco-friendly signage materials people think it is, as it’s not able to be recycled and can be subject to rust. Again, the best alternative is direct screen or digital printing.

Foamboard and Gatorboard are both widely used for lightweight display boards for indoor wayfinding and menu purposes, but the polystyrene/polyurethane foam they contain is derived from fossil fuels. Paper-based cores are much better, although investing in long-term metal or wood signage represents an even more environmentally-friendly choice.

Banners are typically made from a scrim polyester mesh covered in a vinyl coating, their manufacturing and disposal are known to create carcinogenic dioxins, especially as they can’t be recycled. What you need is a PVC-free banner, which in this case, is achieved with direct printing on a PVC-free banner material.

Consisting of zig-zagged plastic, corrugated polypropylene (PP) has a number of short-term uses like estate sales signs, product displays and yard signs. Only around 3% of PP gets recycled because of it, meaning PP sustainable signage with a paper-based core is the more eco-friendly option, as the mixed-materials plastic issue is removed.

Used extensively for vehicle graphics, sticks and commercial signs, this flexible material is very cost-effective, however, waste rates of 90% are not uncommon. Again, here it’s best to move away from adhesive-backed materials in favour of screen and digital printing with gold-lettered or painted graphics.

Aluminium composite is composed of three layers (2 aluminium sheets with a polyethylene core) and is often used indoor/outdoor signage. This mix cannot be recycled in addition to polyethylene coming from fossil fuels. Wood and aluminium represent the best eco-friendly signage alternative.

Acrylic is widely used in the business world for ADA, lobby and wayfinding signage. However, it’s neither biodegradable nor recyclable, but the sustainable signage alternative is glass, with sustainable wood or aluminium being a good alternative for ADA braille signs that use pigmented acrylic.

Just like vinyl, adhesive-backed polyester creates a lot of waste. What’s more, cut-offs can’t be recycled and aren’t biodegradable. The solution is to move away from semi-permanent labels/signage toward direct ‘screen’ printing to the machine surface for high-volume projects or digital printing for low-volume.