Sustainable event materials at Messe Basel
Tara Trueb
By dispensing with plastic film for badges and introducing sustainable lanyards, Messe Basel is sending out a strong signal for resource conservation. These measures alone save around 75 kg of plastic per year and promote the conscious use of materials.
By removing the plastic film from all badges, we were able to significantly reduce the amount of plastic used at our events. Each badge was previously fitted with a plastic film that weighed around 0.25 grams. However, this small amount at first glance added up to a considerable amount when producing an average of 300,000 badges per year. Thanks to the changeover, we can now save around 75 kilograms of plastic film per year. This measure is an important step towards minimizing our consumption of resources and reducing the ecological footprint of our events.
In addition, we have introduced new, more sustainable lanyards provided by our partner Aditus. These innovative lanyards are made from environmentally friendly materials such as recycled PET (rPET), organic cotton or bamboo. They have a deliberately minimalist design and do not use additional plastic or metal hooks, which further reduces material consumption. They also promote reusability, as their functional design means they can easily be used several times.
An initial pilot project with the sustainable lanyards took place at the Sustainability Days in 2024. The results of this use were very pleasing: almost 90% of the lanyards handed out were collected again after the event. This high return rate enables us to reuse the lanyards at future events, which not only reduces resource consumption but also supports our efforts to achieve a circular economy.
