# Re-imagining exhibition waste

- Link: https://eventengine.net/reimagining-exhibition-waste/
- Published: 2025-05-22T11:32:13+00:00
- Author: rondayvoo

Exhibition flooring is big business, and a big sustainability challenge. What happens
when exhibition carpet reaches the end of its brief 5-6 day life? In this eye-opening
episode, Jennifer Bishopp, COO of MJ’s Event Services, debunks the myth that exhibition
carpets simply go to landfill.

She reveals how her company is pioneering true circular sustainability by transforming
recycled carpet into high-quality furniture prototypes with no screws or glue, potentially
giving exhibition materials a 100-year lifecycle through multiple transformations.

Jennifer shares the practical challenges and innovative solutions that are helping
reshape the environmental footprint of the events industry.

### About Jennifer

Jennifer serves as the Chief Operating Officer at MJ’s Event Services, a pioneering
flooring supplier in the exhibition sector. Based in Dubai but operating throughout
the UK and Europe, Jennifer has been instrumental in making MJ’s a leader in sustainable
flooring solutions since the company’s inception seven years ago. Her international
perspective bridges practices between Middle Eastern and European event markets,
challenging industry norms around material use and disposal.

### Key takeaways

 * **The “carpet to landfill” narrative is largely false**: Jennifer debunks the
   post-COVID misconception that exhibition carpet is wasteful, revealing that responsible
   suppliers have been recycling up to 97% of exhibition carpet for many years.
 * **Revolutionary “Rewind” carpet** is transforming the industry standard – This
   latex-free, heat-bonded product uses 85% less water and produces 55% less CO2
   during production while maintaining pure polypropylene properties that make it
   infinitely more recyclable.
 * **Pure polypropylene creates recycling opportunities**: Unlike traditional latex-
   bonded carpets that can only be downcycled into products like culverts, Rewind
   carpet can be processed into high-quality pellets suitable for manufacturing 
   new items.
 * **From floor to furniture and beyond**: MJ’s has developed prototype furniture
   made entirely from recycled carpet pellets with no screws or glue, creating products
   that can be continually recycled without material degradation.
 * **Sustainability faces practical challenges**: Short breakdown windows (often
   just one hour) and industry cost pressures create real-world hurdles that require
   innovative thinking to overcome.

### More highlights

Jennifer provides a fascinating insight into the behind-the-scenes logistics of 
exhibition breakdown, where her team races against the clock to remove thousands
of square meters of flooring within tight timeframes while preventing contamination
that would compromise recyclability.

The exhibition industry’s tight margins have historically made sustainability initiatives
difficult to implement at scale. Jennifer explains how MJ’s has engineered solutions
that don’t significantly increase costs, effectively making the decision to transition
to more environmentally friendly options on behalf of the entire industry.

“We’re taking a short-term problem and finding a long-term solution,” Jennifer explains.
Her team recently unveiled their first prototype furniture collection at Confex –
six chairs and three tables made entirely from recycled carpet materials. These 
pieces represent the beginning of what Jennifer calls a “truly circular journey”
for event materials, where the carpet walked on at one event could become the chair
someone sits on at the next.

### Connect with Jennifer

 * **Website:** [https://www.mjseventservices.com/](https://www.mjseventservices.com/)
 * **LinkedIn:** [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-bishopp-6576b82a/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-bishopp-6576b82a/)
 * **Company LinkedIn:** [https://www.linkedin.com/company/mjseventservices/](https://www.linkedin.com/company/mjseventservices/)