The Carbon Math: Permanent Steel Displays vs. Cardboard Waste

For global Brands and Retailers, the sustainability clock is ticking. Achieving those critical CSR goals requires making smart, data-driven decisions across your entire supply chain—starting right on the shop floor.

The traditional approach of constantly deploying single-use cardboard FSDUs is not only logistically complex and often inefficient (on average, only 66% of card units ever get built in store ), but it creates a massive, unnecessary carbon burden.

The Material Advantage: Steel vs. Cardboard

At Vertical Vendors, we replace an average of 65 cardboard FSDUs with a single, permanent unit designed for re-use and a 5+ year lifespan.

Our core philosophy is to build with materials that are fundamentally better for the circular economy.

Our units are primarily constructed from steel—the world’s most recycled material. The carbon savings of this choice are dramatic. According to data from the Waste Trade website, when material enters the recycling stream:b "Data show that... steel recycling saves approximately 1.67 tonnes of carbon emmisions..."

By choosing a permanent, durable steel fixture that can last over five years, Brands and Retailers immediately opt into a supply chain that dramatically reduces the need for virgin materials and delivers measurable carbon savings at end-of-life.

Cutting Out Waste: Beyond Just Paper

While our units eliminate tons of cardboard, we also use 100% recyclable card inserts that can be easily rebranded for endless campaigns. Even these are designed for maximum efficiency.

Moreover, if your brand is involved in other packaging streams, the environmental impact of reducing waste is clear. The same report shows that the waste stream savings are impressive across the board:

• Recycling one tonne of aluminium can save around 9 tonnes of CO₂.
• Recycling paper saves about 4 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne.
• Recycling plastic saves roughly 1.5 tonnes.

Our innovation is designed to move you away from short-term waste and toward a long-term Circular Design Thinking Process that prioritises re-use and material efficiency.

We are a Certified Carbon Measured Business and can even provide the externally verified carbon footprint of every single unit.

You can read the full Waste Trade article to understand the profound environmental gains achieved when we choose materials designed for the circular economy.

Why This Matters for Your Business

For Retailers like Shell UK (who have over 1000 units installed for 5+ years ), this strategy means:

1. Reduced long-term CO₂ footprint.
2. Increased staff efficiency by eliminating unit building.
3. Guaranteed pristine brand presentation—always on-brand.

For Brands like Coca-Cola (who have re-ordered over 10 times ), this means:

1. Massive proven uplift in sales (up to 650%+ impulse sales lift ).
2. The ability to run multiple campaigns on one permanent unit, simply by changing the card inserts.
3. Meeting sustainability goals with a product built for 1 million cycles.

The move to Vertical Vendors is not just a sustainable choice; it’s a cost-effective and sales-driving one.

Want to learn more? We offer a range of flexible pricing options, including rental deals and a B2B Subscription model, to make the move to permanent fixtures affordable and practical. Get in touch here