Event industry spends nearly half a million pounds on single-use material disposal, isla report finds

A new report from isla, based on data from over 6,400 materials entries across 789 events in 2025, reveals that the events industry spent nearly half a million pounds disposing of single-use materials. The report found that 84% of event materials are virgin and 42% of build materials are used only once, with carpet identified as the highest-emitting material. When audience travel is excluded, materials make up 27% of an event's carbon footprint, rising to 31% when staff travel is also removed, making it the largest controllable category for organizers. The financial cost is significant: 1,229 tonnes of single-use materials were discarded, with disposal fees estimated at around 292 pounds per tonne. The report argues that reducing material use benefits both sustainability and budgets. It challenges the assumption that travel is the primary environmental concern, highlighting materials as a key area for direct action.