Can exhibition flooring be reused and recycled?

Exhibition flooring can be reused and recycled, although single-use exhibition carpet and tiles made from PU-bound rubber granules differ substantially in their recycling potential. Single-use exhibition carpet is discarded after only a few days at an exhibition. Less than three per cent of carpet waste generated in Europe each year is recycled; the remainder is sent to landfill or incinerated.

Take-back schemes are now available for some certified exhibition carpets. These require the carpet to be clean, dry and free from contamination.

Exhibition flooring made from PU-bound rubber granules follows a different route, beginning with the raw material: ELT rubber granules come from tyre recycling. The tiles are laid loose and can be lifted without tools after the exhibition, cleaned, stacked and stored. Their puzzle interlock retains its shape and fit over many installations, allowing the same tiles to form a continuous surface on changing exhibition stands without creating waste during dismantling. At the end of their service life, used tiles can be shredded and recycled into secondary granulate where regional collection routes are available; otherwise, energy recovery remains the option.