Rethinking exhibitions. Big on impact, Light on waste.
Our global pharma client wanted to make their presence at ERS more sustainable. With our award-winning Enviroplan approach, we redefined what’s possible.
Find out how we cut waste by over 98%.
The Challenge
For our global healthcare client, the ERS (European Respiratory Society) is more than a congress – it’s a flagship moment. In 2023, they asked us to design their most sustainable booth yet. With high stakes and limited environmental control at large-scale congresses, it was no small ask. They wanted more than just carbon offsets – they wanted impact. And they needed a solution that wouldn’t just work once, but for years to come.
The Solution
For us, sustainability isn’t just about reducing impact once. It’s about designing smarter, longer-term solutions. So, we proposed something more ambitious: a modular, reusable booth creating using circular design principles, that would make waste reduction a repeatable success.
We applied Enviroplan – prioritising the top tiers of the zero-waste hierarchy: prevent, reduce, reuse – to deliver a modular booth with a long-term future, using materials and structures that could adapt for ERS 2024 and beyond. The 2023 booth was stored locally, reinstalled at ERS in 2024, and is ready for 2025.
Every decision was led by circular design thinking, with waste minimisation at every step: fewer and lighter materials, scalable assets, smarter transport, and local sourcing wherever possible. 96.8% of booth materials were reused, repurposed or donated. Smart transport planning and hiring local crews helped us avoid unnecessary emissions. And by switching from printed content to digital wherever regulations allowed, we cut waste even further.
The Value Created
The results speak volumes. Waste was reduced by over 98%; 96.8% of materials were reused, repurposed or donated; the carbon footprint was lowered by 11.6%, compared to traditional single-use builds.
Beyond the numbers, the booth won ERS’s award for “Best designed stand incorporating sustainable goals” in both 2023 and 2024 and at the time of writing has been shortlisted for a C&IT Impact Award. Engagement metrics soared in 2024 too, with 4x more touchscreen interactions and 5,500+ page views.
More than a sustainable stand, this was a strategic shift in how our client approaches live events – and proof that sustainability can lead the way without compromise.