Sustainable Event Badges

Is It Really Possible To Have Sustainable Event Badges?

That’s a fair question, and it’s one we’ve been wrestling with for a while. As we seek to minimise the carbon footprint of Event Connections and help our clients to do the same, we believe the short answer is ‘possibly’.

There have been some significant advances in sustainable badges and the new materials available on the market give some great alternatives to plastic. But no matter how you spin it, there will always be a carbon footprint with event management activity and event badging is no different.

The goal then, is to do the best we can to continue promoting sustainability; starting with our sustainable badges.

Are Sustainable Event Badges Really Sustainable?

When you dig into the detail, most event or exhibition badges that are marketed as ‘sustainable badges’ or ‘recyclable badges’ usually aren’t. The nature of the badge material, adhesive or other aspects make it hard to recycle. However, we’ve been working hard with our suppliers and we now have an option for fully recyclable and sustainable badges using our full colour expo badge printers.

This paper-based name badge has been developed specifically to offer our client a brilliant eco-friendly conference with recyclable exhibition badges. For event organisers looking for a sustainable credit-card style badge, we also have a solution that is fully compostable once the pin has been detached.

**Fully Recyclable Eco Badges**

> printed in full colour to match your design spec
> double sided butterfly badges
> single or double lanyard slots
> fully recyclable
> perfect for a one-day event
> easy for guests to self-attach
> **Our sustainable badges are self-service Kiosk Compatible**

**Bio-Degradable Credit Card Style**

> printed in full colour to match your design spec
> supplied with clip & pin fittings
> magnet fixings and lanyard slots are options
> ideally suited to corporate functions
> 89mm x 54mm
**> Fully sustainable badges**

Our Top Tips For Keeping Registration Sustainable

In our experience, pre-printing event or exhibition badges tends to be more of a faff than it is a solution. Pre-printing branding onto blank badges is all very well, until the event ends and there are hundreds of badges left over.
These cant be used again, and they may not even be recyclable, meaning all those badges will go to waste. We’ve designed our event badging solutions to print branding onto blank badges in real time, meaning there’s no waste, and you only use what’s been needed.
The Event Connections on-site registration system prints sustainable badges in seconds as people arrive at exhibitions or conferences. Our full-colour badge printers enable us to print the branding, delegate data and any other personalisation as people arrive. Because we are printing onto blank badge stock, there is zero waste and any leftover badge stock gets used at another event.
As if registration couldn’t be any better, we’ve now gone fully sustainable with our self-registration kiosk badges. Conference and exhibition organisers can be comforted by the fact that their delegates are using 100% recyclable event badges and sustainable badges, minimising waste and continuing to promote sustainability.
For smaller events and conferences, a popular option for badges is the ‘plastic’ credit card sized badge. They are a clean, smart option for corporate conference badges and sit discreetly in a prominent position, usually clipped to a shirt or blazer. These may not be recyclable badges, but we’ll do you one better - these sustainable badges are fully compostable.
Several years ago, we switched to using compostable versions of these badges as standard, making them fully sustainable event badges. They look and feel as great as the original plastic name badges, but when disposed of in the right conditions, they break down and biodegrade within 1-5 years.
Most event organisers are seeking to reduce the amount of waste their events produce. This can include all manner of things such as reducing waste from paper tickets and print-outs to taking all agendas and programmes online, through an app or website.
For larger exhibitions, the norm has been to print onto a card exhibition badge and then insert that into a plastic holder. At Event Connections, we have been advising against that for some time, in a bid to promote sustainable badges. We think it makes more sense to use a more robust card badge that the lanyard or clip can be applied directly onto. That saves on loads of unnecessary plastic, which helps reduce your event’s carbon footprint.