QR-based aRC quick scan tool for display recycling

arken wants to help retailers improve the recycling of displays at their end of life in-store

Source: arken

Retail display specialist arken P-O-P International announced the launch of aRC – the arken Recycling QR Code to create an easy and accessible way for help retailers improve recycling of permanent and semi-permanent displays at their end of life in-store.

Retail displays manufactured by arken will feature a unique QR code, providing digital sustainability identities that store teams can scan to make informed recycling decisions, simply and quickly. 

Further cementing the Newmarket-based company’s position at the forefront of sustainability best practice within retail display sector, the innovative initiative is aimed at reducing the time is takes for correctly identifying individual components of retail displays for recycling.

While there is tremendous interest amongst retailers and brands for improving sustainability during the design and manufacturing of retail displays, recycling displays at their end of life in-store isn’t as easy as it could be for store teams who want to do the right thing but are, ultimately, time-pressed. 

Accurately verifying the materials and components used to make a retail display unit is an important enabler to effective recycling at the end of the display’s life in-store and giving store teams a quick and easy method of accessing vital information, in a way that’s mobile friendly, can only help.

arken says it will be the first UK retail display manufacturer to apply this type of technology at scale. The initiative, developed by the company’s dedicated Sustainability Leadership Team, has already been trialled on units manufactured for several of its clients, including beauty and consumer electronics brands. 

arken P-O-P International managing director Tracy Scutt comments, “We recognised early on that the success of recycling retail displays rests of the ability of store teams to correctly identify component parts and how they should be recycled. As with any aspect of encouraging recycling, you must make it easy for people to make the right choices. The new aRC Recycling QR Code will provide a powerful tool for retailers and brands to improve sustainability practices and is another important step to moving the retail display industry toward circularity.

“All at arken are committed to driving lasting change when it comes to sustainability. We recognise that working towards a more sustainable future will always be a journey. However, as our team has once again demonstrated, we are committed to finding and investing in relevant solutions that will deliver positive impact for our business, our clients, and the planet.”

As well as being an ISO14001 accredited business, arken P-O-P International was one of the first manufacturers in the UK of its kind to support industry initiatives aimed at improving the sustainability credentials of retail displays and helped pioneer the industry’s own PSS (Point-of-Point-Advertising-International (POPAI) Sustainability Standard) almost a decade ago.