GES has launched its eco-friendly badge holders following a successful rollout at the Climate Action Innovation Zone, a 13-day event held alongside COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Plastic waste has become a key driver of pollution across the world, overwhelming marine, terrestrial and aerial ecosystems. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated that only nine per cent of plastic waste was recycled in 2019 and while the COVID-19 crisis led to a 2.2 per cent decrease in plastics use in 2020, plastics consumption rebounded in 2021. At COP27, the United Nations urged businesses, governments and communities to take action on tackling the impact of single-use plastic on climate change and the environment.

The exhibition industry is a key user of single-use plastic, much of which ends up in landfill. By replacing plastic badge holders and using eco-friendly reinforced recyclable paper, GES delivered the look and durability of traditional badges while focusing on event sustainability.

The eco-friendly badge holders are sturdy and robust enough to last for multi-day events. The Climate Action Innovation Zone played host to more than 50 exhibitors, 300 speakers and 6,000 attendees, and by using GES badge holders, the zone avoided thousands of plastic holders going to waste.

Soraya Gadelrab, Innovation Zone event director, said: “Traditionally, event production is not the most sustainable industry, but Climate Action is working hard to change the way our exhibitions are run. It was fantastic to enable GES’ great new product launch at COP27 and to move a step closer to creating truly sustainable event spaces.”

Gerard Conway, director, Event Intelligence at GES, said: “As a creator of exhibition experiences, we are focused more than ever on increasing our sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint of those events we produce. The Climate Action Innovation Zone at COP27 provided a great opportunity for us to expedite the launch of our new sustainable badge holders on a global stage.”