The new data-led report from isla, the first in a new ‘A Closer Look’ series, reveals that 84% of event materials are virgin, 42% of build materials are used only once, and that carpet, the events industry’s default flooring choice, is the number one emitting material in event builds.

isla, the UK’s leading independent body for sustainability within events, today releases A Closer Look: Materials – the first edition in a new series of data-led reports designed to give the events industry granular, actionable insight into its environmental impact.

Drawing on over 6,400 materials entries – across 789 events in 2025 – logged in TRACE, isla’s carbon measurement platform, the report challenges one of the most common assumptions in event sustainability: that materials are a secondary concern compared to travel.

Remove audience travel from the picture, and materials jump to 27% of the overall carbon footprint. Strip out staff travel too, and materials represent 31% of an event’s entire controllable footprint,  making it the single largest category that event organisers can directly act on.

The cost hiding in plain sight

The report’s most striking finding is financial as much as environmental. The weight of materials recorded in TRACE that were used once and then discarded totals 1,229 tonnes, at around £292 a tonne to dispose of. Based on UK government packaging waste disposal fees, the estimated disposal bill for that volume of single-use material comes to almost half a million pounds.

That figure represents budget spent producing, transporting and then disposing of materials used for, at most, a few days. At a time when event budgets are under pressure, the report argues the fix is the same whether the priority is sustainability or cost: use less.

Carpet: the number one emitting material

The data identifies carpet as the highest-emitting build material globally, with 78% of event carpet used only once. Despite being widely regarded as a practical necessity, the report makes the case that carpet deserves more strategic scrutiny and that venues have a significant, largely untapped role to play in breaking the single-use default.

In graphics, non-PVC standard banners carry the highest total emissions, and the report recommends that for most organisers, carpet and banners should be the starting point for any materials reduction programme.

Virgin materials dominate the supply chain

Across the dataset, 84% of materials measured are virgin, that is, newly produced rather than hired, reused or made from recycled content. On average, events are bringing in 2.7 tonnes of virgin material per event. For build production specifically, 87% of materials are virgin, and only 10% are made from more than 50% recycled content.

Emily Shephard, Insights Lead, isla said:

“When you dig into the materials data, what stands out isn’t just the scale of the emissions,  it’s the volume of waste that’s become normalised and accepted as part of doing business. Nearly half of build materials are used once and thrown away, a shocking stat for circularity efforts, emissions reductions, as well as a significant financial burden. That’s a clear call to action and somewhere to focus for anyone making design and build decisions. 

 ‘A Closer Look’ has been created using TRACE data to to shine a light on these industry patterns and provide tools for decision making, across both cost and carbon.

Practical actions

Alongside the data, the report provides a framework for decarbonising materials based on three principles: use less, design smart, and understand onward life before an event takes place rather than after. It also introduces a scoring model across five dimensions: emissions share, ease of intervention, long-term viability, data availability and control – to help organisers prioritise where to act first.

A Closer Look: Materials is available for free, here.