With just one quarter of 2023 left to go, many of us are already looking ahead to 2024 – why kick off any big projects or make any big changes in the last three months of the year? But as printer and inventor Benjamin Franklin said, ‘don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today’. As we can all feel more intensely with each passing year, protecting the environment just isn’t something that can wait. 

Thankfully, more and more businesses around the world are choosing to do today what they could put off until tomorrow – making the switch to environmentally-friendly banner materials. Kavalan is proud to have a growing number of distributors that have made the switch to PVC free materials for their clients’ printing needs. 

Reason #1 –PVC-Free Solutions Aren’t High Quality Enough Yet

In the past, a common objection has been: ‘it’s not the right time to switch to PVC-free banners – they’re just not high quality enough yet’. Well, in 2023, that’s no longer the case. Since Kavalan’s green banner production started in 2008, we have worked tirelessly to keep innovating and to create environmentally responsible banners that match the quality and performance of traditional PVC materials, and have consistently added solutions that the industry needs, from biodegradable banner options to entry-level PVC-free solutions that allow any size business to make a sustainable switch. Kavalan puts our money where our mouth is, too – just take a look at the outcomes of our LCAs. 

Reason #2 – Customers Aren’t Requesting PVC Banner Alternatives Enough 

Another hesitation we’re familiar with is, ‘at this stage, our customers aren’t requesting PVC-free banners enough for us to consider switching to eco-friendly banners’. This is increasingly not the case for many people. The ever more environmentally conscious consumers are scrutinising the products and media that they come into contact with and often basing allegiances on the sustainability values of organisations. The tide is turning, and Kavalan can ensure that you are not left behind. Sustainable retail is of increasing importance to consumers, particularly Gen Z, and they are looking for change and responsibility from brands. The move to PVC-free materials is not a fad or passing trend, it is an essential positive step for your business. Suppliers to the wide-format print industry the world over are adding Kavalan PVC-free banner materials to their portfolios at an incredible rate – check out our growing distribution network. That means businesses and industries the world over are demanding it, and if customers are switching, then there is no better time to make that switch too.

Reason #3 – PVC-Free Banners Aren’t Suitable for Large Scale Projects 

Sure, PVC-free banners may be of suitable quality and performance for smaller, shorter-term installations, but can we really take the risk on a building wrap or large-scale hoardings for example? We understand the trepidation – when you’re used to a material that performs well and has been extensively tried and tested, switching to eco-friendly banners isn’t an easy decision, even if it’s for the sake of the environment. Luckily, there is nothing to worry about on that front for Kavalan. Kavalan materials have been widely used in a number of very large, very prominent projects for some of the world’s leading brands. Take the recent use of Kavalan PVC-free materials in this iconic printed scaffold banner installation at Oxford Circus in London. For its client IKEA, Embrace Building Wraps used 2878 square metres of printed scaffold wraps on Kavalan Sunlight Weldable – the equivalent of 44 double-decker buses! As leaders in the field, Embrace has carried out rigorous testing across quality, structural integrity, tension, fire testing, and more, and Kavalan passes with flying colours. 

Reason #4 – Going PVC-Free Doesn’t Really Make a Big Difference

Sometimes the lifestyle changes we implement and the environmental adjustments we make can feel like a drop in the ocean. Thankfully with Kavalan, we can easily and thoroughly measure the eco savings of any project, and see just how much difference the switch to environmentally-friendly banner materials makes, right there in the form of irrefutable data.
We developed the invaluable Kavalan Eco Calculator to take the guesswork out of going green. It analyses five predominant environmental impacts; global warming, water consumption, human carcinogens, PM2.5 (polluted particles), and fossil fuel scarcity for comparison against their preferred Kavalan material. The data, based on Kavalan’s LCA process, is provided in a personalised report straight to the users inbox ready for analysis. Put simply, Kavalan users are able to quantify just how much they are helping the environment by switching to Kavalan banner materials, and those results are certainly worth shouting about.  

So, we’ve given you four reasons not to go PVC-free in 2023, as well as shown you why those reasons are outdated and obsolete. There’s still time – go PVC-free in 2023. 

Want to find out more about Kavalan's sustainable advertising materials?

Find your nearest distributor in Kavalan’s distribution network here, and join the green revolution now. Go PVC-free, go for Kavalan!