Why It’s Time For The Middle East Signage Industry To Become More Sustainable.
In today’s world, sustainability has become a crucial aspect of every industry. As businesses strive to reduce their environmental footprint, the local signage industry at face value seems to have fallen behind.
This seems to be in part due to a lack of client desire in some quarters to see more environmentally friendly materials and practices being adopted out of fear that this will raise costs (spoiler alert it will – for now), and from material manufacturers who are keen to maximize their return on supplying the industry with their tried and tested products and finally, the fabricators and contractors themselves who are equally stuck in their ways and eager to maintain their margins as competition and client demands for lower costs puts the squeeze on profitability.
However, against this backdrop environmental concerns are at the forefront of global discussions, and industries of all types are being called upon to adopt more sustainable practices and it’s time for the Middle Eastern signage industry to step up its game when it comes to bolstering its green and recycling credentials.
As businesses strive to reduce their carbon footprint and operate in environmentally responsible ways, recycling has emerged as a crucial aspect of daily life and the motivations you would think are pretty simple. For sign makers and contractors even of small scale, the first positive move would be to embrace recycling.
Creating A Circular Signage Economy
The signage industry relies on a wide range of materials and substances like plastics, metals, paper as well as a whole host of toxic adhesives, solvents, inks and paints for producing any manner of signs across both short- and long-term use cases.
Unfortunately, these materials contribute to waste accumulation and environmental pollution if not managed properly. Adopting recycling in the signage industry promotes the concept of a circular economy, where resources are continuously reused and recycled. Instead of following the current linear model of production and disposal, where materials are used once and discarded, a circular economy emphasizes the importance of closing the loop.
By recycling materials such as steel, aluminum, acrylic, and plastics, sign manufacturers can at the least begin to forge a more sustainable supply chain that begins to reduce waste generation and puts an emphasis on resource efficiency. Within the signage industry in the Middle East, even if this begins as a form of PR, we’d argue that sustainability – at least in the form of recycling – is of increasing importance to many prospective clients and it makes increasingly good business sense to get this part of the equation right, shifting the emphasis from simply greenwashing to genuine long term recycling programs that add value and create cost offsets.
Recycling and reusing materials in the signage trade creates a more sustainable industry. Beyond the environmental benefits, there are simple and common-sense economic advantages and a closer alignment with what we think are going to be increased client expectations moving forward. After all, major signage programs, billboards and retail and trade show signs just for starters are anything but hidden or low profile by their very nature and will surely come under increasing scrutiny from all types of audiences. Which is why the time for regional action on recycling and promoting sustainable eco-friendly practices and material sourcing is past due.
Time To Take Responsibility for Materials
While recycling is a great step to take, the base materials that are used and consumed to manufacture signage is the responsibility of the industry suppliers who need to really look at these issues and begin to undertake wholesale change to the way and the type of products they manufacture and supply for use across the industry. Some are stepping up and you can find substrates like aluminum composite board, Dibond sheets, or Perspex with a degree of recycled content and this is great but is it enough and are local agents adopting them?
Take for instance plastics. Commercial sign plastics are made by the polymerization of fossil fuels. As petroleum or natural gas are introduced to other chemicals at high temperatures, their single molecules link up to form long molecule chains called polymers. This process directly consumes fossil fuels, as well as other inputs. Stabilizers, colors, and other chemicals can be added to plastics, making them more durable or flexible but also more challenging to recycle.
Unlike materials used in green signs, only some plastics can be commercially recycled, and most recyclable plastics cannot be recycled more than five times. PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and HDPE (high-density polyethylene) can be recycled, whereas it is difficult or impossible to recycle some types of PVC (polyvinyl chloride), LDPE (low-density polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), and PS (polystyrene). When plastics are incinerated, or melted as part of recycling, greenhouse gasses and other toxic chemicals are released into the atmosphere, and it is common practice right now today that all of these hazardous materials, solvents and coatings are used for signage production around the world and across the Middle East.
Exterior Signage
As critical components of outdoor advertising and wayfinding systems, exterior signage must be rugged and weatherproof and this does create limitations on the types of materials than can be adopted, but where possible manufacturers and sign makers should be striving to adopt the use of highly robust materials with the least toxicity that can be easily recycled at the end of their lifecycle. On that note, lifecycle is equally important. If the signage system in question can last for more than 5 years in outdoor conditions, then this reduces the need for replacement at shorter intervals. Alas, in the Middle East the rush to cut costs and implement signage programs quickly as well as the prevailing environmental conditions usually sees an exterior signage program last only a fraction of that time, and when the signage fabricator is unscrupulous, we’ve seen signage fall apart within months. This is all rather wasteful and scenarios like this create a false sense of cost savings too. Education and awareness are the key to mitigating some of these unfortunate events and we go out of way to try to design for outdoor applications by adopting the thoughtful use of hard-wearing recyclable materials and the least number of components as possible.
Interior Signage
For interior signage it’s an entirely different proposition and we firmly believe that manufacturers, fabricators and clients need to up the ante and move towards adopting far more eco-friendly and sustainable materials for signage systems as a baseline that are 100% recyclable or made from 100% recycled materials. Where possible these components should also be able to quickly decompose in a landfill or be made from materials that can either be repurposed or be shredded for use as another product when the signage system is at the end of its lifecycle.
At creative Dialog, we have been leading from the front and advocating for the adoption of such materials for a long time and there are some wonderful 100% recycled and sustainable substrates emerging that are an exciting prospect when it comes to really pushing the boundaries of what’s possible when designing for and developing ecofriendly indoor signage systems. From bamboo, plywood and other Ecoboards to foamless foamcore and fiber-based substrates and on to recycled card and hemp papers along with a range of recycled acrylic composites and soy-based or vegetable-based inks that are all nontoxic we have been scouring the world for the latest developments in this arena and specify them whenever possible. The use of these materials absolutely has their place in both retail and hospitality environments and as some developers increasingly move towards the adoption of LEED and commercial green building certifications the impetus is finally there to adopt such measures for the signage systems within these developments.
Trust the process?
While the adoption of responsible recycling programs and use of ecofriendly signage materials are important the final part of the puzzle is the manufacturing processes adopted by signage fabricators and this is where vendors across the Middle East have some catching up to do. As a part of our role as wayfinding designers, we have toured and assessed close to every sign shop across the UAE and when compared to the work practices adopted by some of their more sophisticated international counterparts, the intention to be greener through adopting better processes seems to be a little thin on the ground, which is shame and frankly a missed opportunity.
With the UAE and Dubai forging ahead in so many arenas, the region’s signage contractors could be trend setters in this regard if they really wanted or were pushed to do so through more stringent industry frameworks and end user uptake. Our approach is to give them a gentle nudge through information sharing, material specifying and positive encouragement while also accepting that ultimately if the end client does not know or want to adopt eco friendly signage for their program then we and the vendor can only do so much.
With that said, we genuinely feel that the tide is turning and that soon the client side will absolutely want to be seen to be doing the right thing to boost their green credentials as intentionally, large brands and companies have had to evolve rapidly to a very fast news cycle where negative coverage of their brand on social media is a genuine concern.
Organizations that are thriving by getting sustainability right have large budgets when it comes to the ‘feel’ of their offerings and this is where developers and contractors across the region can move beyond catching up and begin to lead the way and in turn capitalize on this new reality. We are beginning to see various developers highlighting the green credentials of their offerings and really embracing LEED and sustainably within their development programs and this could be just the impetus that signage contractors need to make sustainability a core plank of their own operations.
The Bottom Line:
While green signage may not be at the forefront of every developer’s mind and in isolation will not gain them LEED accreditation, we feel it’s an increasingly important consideration for new buildings where a signage system is required and can make a positive contribution to a more ecofriendly building. In line with this, we feel it’s time for the signage industry in the Middle East as a whole, to take sustainability seriously even if by taking baby steps.
There is a lot to gain for all stakeholders by taking on a bonafide recycling and upcycling program from energy savings through recycling aluminum, glass, plastics and paper to undertaking resource conservation by cutting down on non-renewable metals and oil-based plastics. As innovations in the area of 100% sustainable signage materials continue to roll on, the adoption of these products should become significantly easier due to lower costs and higher quality and availability leading to a smallball effect where it only takes a few leading lights to plant the seeds of positive change.
We are proud to be leading this mission across the region and we hope that with our encouragement topics such as this turn from being mere wish list talking to points to becoming tangible future focused actions that the signage industry and their end clients embraces.
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