From coffee to waste separation to events, sustainability has become an integral part of every company’s philosophy, permeating every department. While sustainability is increasingly becoming a matter of image, trade fair construction still lacks the integration of climate protection and sustainability.
Even though most exhibition stand builders attribute sustainability to aluminum because of its recyclability, the clearing of hectares of rainforest for the required bauxite is accepted. The disposal of aluminum ultimately leads to further devastating environmental impacts. So, there is no talk of sustainability here.
Similarly, most wooden stands are only partially sustainable. Most wooden stands we see at trade fairs and events in Europe are made of spruce. Spruce is soft (Brinell hardness 12 N/mm²) and light (dry density 410 kg/m³), making it a seemingly viable alternative to aluminum systems for a one-time setup. However, without a system behind these stands, there are only three options:
The first option assumes that the intention behind the stand is to present with the same, unchanged stand repeatedly at every trade show appearance. In this case, the already short-lived exhibition stand is dismantled and transported to storage, incurring very high costs. Additionally, since these stands are mostly made of spruce wood, which is easily dented, it is highly unlikely that the stand will remain intact during disassembly, storage, and reassembly. If, for such reasons, the stand is not made of spruce but of a more solid wood, the question of profitability arises. Beech, for example, is a hard (Brinell hardness 34 N/mm²) and heavy (dry density 680 kg/m³) wood. Due to the weight of beech, transport costs and assembly time increase, not to mention the high costs incurred during procurement.
For most companies, such an undertaking is not worthwhile. Apart from that, it is unthinkable for many companies to present themselves with an unchanged exhibition stand.
The second option—and at the same time, the best-case scenario—is to dismantle the wooden stand after the event and further process it into pellets for heating. This, of course, incurs costs for something that does not yield many cubic meters of pellets. Again, the question of profitability arises.
The third and most likely option is for the stand to be destroyed and disposed of after dismantling. This avoids costs for return transport, storage, and further processing. At the next event, another wooden stand is built, which may visually differ from aluminum stands but leaves much to be desired in terms of sustainability.
