Gaining Points for Sustainability

By Amber Larkins, OOH Today

Sustainability and supporting diversely-owned businesses are certainly nice-to-haves in an industry that produces thousands of pounds of landfill waste and is often dominated by white men.

But again, nice-to-have, not necessary. With waves of other initiatives rolling in, acquisitions, layoffs, fires to put out, etc., sustainability and diversity often fall by the wayside- though they can score brownie points in an RFP. 

What if there was an easy way to build sustainability into your advertising program? What if there was no other option but to do so?

K&R Solutions Group is a majority women-owned company with ACDBE certification in eight states. Diversity box, check.

This month they are rolling out what they say is the first biodegradable fabric in airport advertising. Not only is the tensile fabric an option for their clients, but they plan to make it the only option for those seeking nonbacklit tensile fabric displays in airports. Sustainability box, check. 

“We are focused on bringing sustainable products to the OOH world. PVCs go to landfills and we get a bad rap,” Karen Fiorentino, owner and managing partner of K&R Solutions said. “We want to introduce our new women-owned company and bring sustainable solutions to the industry.” 

Green materials often look and act differently from traditional materials. Sometimes they have strange yellow hues or they may not be as easy to print on. They can also be more expensive. 

Many companies want to be kinder to Mother Earth, but why would they change what they are doing when the output is not as nice and when it costs so much more to produce?

Bio Knit, the material used by K&R Solutions looks and acts the same as traditional fabric. It is a regular polyester fabric that has been treated with an additive to make it act like natural fiber like wool. The additive creates millions of spots in the matrix of the polyester where microbes can break down the material. This makes it disintegrate more quickly. 

“There’s no other company using it. Many use sustainable or recyclable materials, but no one in the industry is using the Bio Knit product,” Fiorentino said. 

Originally, the product was developed to help clothing thrown in landfills to disintegrate more quickly. After much research, it was tested and found that it would perform well on similar polyester materials used in the OOH space. K&R Solutions says the additive does not alter the print quality or the durability of the printed fabric. Audrey Peebles, director of project management at K&R Solutions Group, says the pricing is competitive, about 10% more than traditional tensile fabrics. But in this added cost, is the knowledge that rather than 50 to 60 years in a landfill, the materials will disintegrate in just 10% of that time. 

“Fabric graphics are changed out monthly in airports all over the US. Think of the waste generated every year,” Peebles said. 

Everyone knows sustainability is important. 2023 is recorded as the hottest year on  record with scientists saying climate change has reached a “boiling point.” By making the sustainable solution the only option for their TFDs, K&R Solutions makes the choice easy. 

“The price point is incredibly accessible and an opportunity to make sustainability the standard for tension fabric,” Peebles said. 

“It’s very easy to say we’re using this and it’s not going to affect the look and feel of our program – so why wouldn’t you?” Fiorentino said.

K&R Solutions Group works with many small and midsize airports. They not only print but manage the project and installation. They are mostly a print shop, with 80% of their business being tension fabric printing. They say they are capable of running 3 million square feet per year. 

Contact graphics@krsolutionsgroup.com to learn more.

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