Modern carpet solutions today combine aesthetics and responsibility – provided they are designed to be ecological from the outset or, ideally, circular. An impressive example is the Red Carpet of the world-famous Berlinale film festival. Its single-material construction, high recyclability and innovative technology make it a glamorous ambassador for genuine sustainability.
Environmental challenges in the flooring sector
Carpet flooring is one of the most widely used flooring solutions in the contract and event sectors. This is due to its design flexibility, acoustic properties and pleasant feel underfoot. It is therefore frequently used in offices and hotels, public buildings and major events of all kinds. Although carpets are usually installed across large areas, their lifecycle is comparatively short – a characteristic they share with many other flooring solutions. This is due to regular conversions and renovation work. For temporary occasions such as trade fairs or festivals, carpets may sometimes be used for just a few days.
This limited lifespan presents environmental challenges. Like many modern flooring solutions, conventional carpets consist of complex material composites: they contain yarns, latex, adhesives and numerous fillers, often combining 10 to 20 different materials. Once a carpet reaches the end of its service life, this mixture of materials can hardly be separated, or only with considerable technical effort, making recycling extremely difficult or economically unviable. In practice, this means that under current disposal systems, discarded carpets are often treated as special waste. As such, they are predominantly incinerated or sent to landfill. Valuable raw materials are lost in the process, waste volumes are enormous and the resulting CO₂ emissions are considerable. In addition, many carpets – like other building materials used in the contract sector – are treated with chemicals to protect them against dirt or fire, which can cause additional emissions during disposal. This highlights a structural sustainability challenge affecting the entire flooring sector.
Berlinale carpet as an ambassador for sustainability
A prominent example demonstrates how these challenges can be addressed: Germany’s most important film festival. When the international film community gathered for the 76th Berlinale from 12 to 22 February 2026, the Red Carpet once again took centre stage. As in previous years, it was supplied by renowned manufacturer OBJECT CARPET. The company, based in Denkendorf near Stuttgart, is committed to developing recyclable carpet solutions that enable all components to be returned to the material cycle. Its goal is to stop producing products that become waste once they have been used.
The Berlinale carpet owes its outstanding environmental credentials to a new, pioneering manufacturing process. The so-called DUO technology makes it possible to produce carpets entirely without fillers. Instead, they consist solely of polyester and polyamide. The two materials are bonded using an innovative adhesive that can later be released during the recycling process simply through the application of heat. This means they can be easily separated after each use cycle and recycled to a high standard multiple times. The use of ECONYL® yarn is another key component of the Berlinale carpet. It is produced by Aquafil, an Italy-based specialist in synthetic fibres, from waste materials such as discarded fishing nets and industrial waste. Thanks to its reduced weight, the carpet generates fewer CO² emissions during transport and is also easy to install.
A call to action for the flooring and event industries
For OBJECT CARPET Managing Director Daniel Butz, the high-profile carpet also serves as a public call to action for the industry: “The Berlinale carpet demonstrates that even carpets used temporarily and exposed to intensive use can become a benchmark for sustainability through targeted material selection and high-quality recyclability.” Berlinale Director Tricia Tuttle was equally pleased with her “green” Red Carpet: “The Red Carpet represents the unique magic of cinema and creates a wonderful sense of closeness between stars and audiences,” says Tuttle. “It makes us all the more pleased that this iconic symbol can also inspire sustainable change in the carpet industry.”
