The drive for sustainability

Mamemo's environmental-award-winning Khalifa Fund annual event included a traditional Arabian souk.

Being green can be a tough ask of those in the Middle East events market; with clients all too often more conscious of the bottom line than their carbon footprint. But according to these pioneering firms, environmental sustainability doesn’t have to be at the sacrifice of creativity or an events’ budget.

For Sven Peeters, managing director of Showtex in the Middle East, being conscious of the environmental impact of his business is almost sub-conscious.

“It’s high time something changes and that we look at reducing our carbon footprint, especially in the Middle East. It’s becoming more natural to do this in Europe and this region needs to catch up,” he says.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

“We all have to do our bit for the environment – if we all sit back and do nothing, there will be very serious consequences, so we have taken the initiative, we’ve stood up and said, we’ll do something about it.”

Showtex, which develops, manufacturers, sells and installs fabrics, tracks and motion control systems for the entertainment industry, has formalised its commitment to being sustainable by having its products Okeo-Tex certified.

Developed in the early Nineties, Oeko-Tex Standard 100 or Öko-Tex Standard 100 is an international testing and certification system for textiles, limiting the use of certain chemicals.

The criteria catalogue that forms the basis for the tests for harmful substances is based on the latest scientific findings and is continually updated; the human ecological safety of the textiles tested are more far-reaching every year.

The test criteria and the related test methods are standardised on an international level and are widely included as guidance in terms and conditions of purchase and delivery right through to the retail sector.

With a total of over 51,000 certificates issued for millions of different individual products, and over 6,500 companies involved worldwide, the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 has become the best known and most successful label for textiles tested for harmful substances.

According to Peeters, the certification was a complex and drawn-out process, but the end result is worth it.

“We had to have individual fabrics tested against Okeo-Tex standards. This was mainly done through our head office and involved having samples tested in a lab to ensure there were no harmful substances used in the manufacturing process,” he explains.

“It ensures that we keep our position as a market leader and remain on par with international standards.”

The firm is also trialling a tape recycling initiative, in a quest to cut down on the waste of the product used in the temporary installation of stage coverings.