Guandong has highlighted the potential of its Poly-rafia woven banner material for applications extending beyond traditional visual communications, citing its combination of low weight, mechanical strength and recyclability.
Originally developed for outdoor advertising and designed for digital printing, Poly-rafia weighs 165gsm and is claimed to offer high tensile strength and mechanical resistance while weighing up to 70% less than conventional banner materials.
According to Guandong, the reduced weight is intended to make transportation, handling and installation easier, particularly for large-format vertical installations. The company says a 60sqm Poly-rafia banner weighs 9kg, compared with approximately 30kg for conventional alternatives.
Alongside applications in visual communications, Guandong is positioning the material for industrial and protective uses where strength, flexibility and impact resistance are required. These include protective barriers at ski resorts and ice rinks, motocross tracks and other outdoor applications where lightweight materials can simplify transportation and installation.
“Every Guandong product starts with listening to the market,” said Fabio Elmi, head of research and development at Guandong. “With Poly-rafia, we have developed a material that combines lightweight construction, mechanical strength, sustainability and excellent value for money. The result is a solution that not only expands the possibilities for visual communication but also creates new opportunities across completely different industries, demonstrating how material innovation can generate tangible value for our customers.”
Poly-rafia has also been designed with its end-of-life management in mind. Its woven structure is manufactured from a single polyolefin resin rather than the multiple resin layers typically found in conventional banner materials.
Guandong says the mono-material construction removes the need to separate different material components during recycling, simplifying the recovery process and making the product 100% recyclable.
Poly-rafia forms part of Guandong’s GreenLife range, which comprises materials developed according to sustainability principles applied across the production and distribution process.
