Build Once, Show Many Times: The Case for Reusable Stands
One medium-sized disposable stand produces around four tonnes of waste, according to Informa, almost ten times what the average person throws away at home in a year. Across Informa’s events in 2019, disposable stands made up more than 80% of all the waste generated. That is why organisers now write reuse into exhibitor rules.
What organisers now ask for
Informa’s response was Better Stands, piloted in 2023 and opened to the whole industry in June 2025, now hosted by Net Zero Carbon Events with support from IFES. By then it had run at more than 400 events in over 37 countries, with more than 50,000 stands assessed. Bronze means the structure and walls, platform, furniture, equipment and lighting are all reused. Silver adds fascia, signage, rigging, ceiling and display units, and Gold adds graphics, decorative items and floor covering. Informa’s Better Stands guide for London Tech Week 2024 stated that Bronze would be enforced for all space-only exhibitors from 2025, and the programme won the 2026 UFI Sustainable Development Award.
Results are showing. Vitafoods Europe in Barcelona reports 128 Gold, 196 Silver and 73 Bronze stands, plus an 8% drop in single-use stands per net square metre between 2025 and 2026. At ReThink HK, the share of raw-space stands rated Gold rose from 43% in 2024 to 60% in 2025. For builders, the ESSA Sustainability Accreditation offers an evidence-based, points-based standard across five tiers, a useful signal when shortlisting.
Small-stand version: Ask the organiser whether Better Stands applies before briefing anyone. If Bronze is expected, it shapes the build from day one.
How brands make one stand work for several shows
The working examples are rarely dramatic. Technetix worked with CX Global on a modular, reusable stand that went to Connected North, Connected Britain at ExCeL and Network X in Paris during 2024, earned a Gold rating and was booked for four shows in 2025. W7 designed a 6m x 6m kit for Mondelez for Casual Dining 2021 with reuse written into the brief, and Mondelez went on to deliver a full programme of trade events “with minimal incremental cost for graphics and hardware”. A Plus Exhibition Stands case study shows one Tuffa UK stand reconfigured for a 5m x 6m plot at LAMMA and a 9m x 8m space at the Commercial Vehicle Show.
The common thread is separating hardware that lasts from graphics that change. Aluminium frames suit this well: Aluvision said in 2020 that customers who bought its frames in 2004 were typically still using them.
Small-stand version: Design around your most common plot size, then ask how the kit shrinks or grows by one module.
The questions to ask at brief stage
For a stand of 18 to 54 sqm, the decisive moment is the first briefing. Ask the builder which elements will be kept, where they will be stored, what storage costs, and what the rebuild price will be for the second and third show. One UK builder’s guide says reinstallation prices for modular stands usually fall by around 60%. Weigh that against storage fees, refurbishment and how often you exhibit, because reuse pays when the calendar is regular. Ask too how the design adapts between a corner and an open plot, and which graphics are printed on fabric that can be swapped cheaply.
Small-stand version: Get the storage fee and the repeat-build quote in writing alongside the first quote.
Reuse works best when the same builder carries the stand from one show to the next. Stand Between introduces exhibitors to vetted stand builders, and a builder chosen for a multi-year relationship makes reuse realistic rather than aspirational. For a sense of budgets, see our exhibition stand cost guide. If you have a show coming up, get in touch.
