中文Easy Signs says it has become the first Australian print and signage company to introduce CiCLO biodegradable fabric technology into its product range, a move the online signage and print manufacturer says addresses a growing weak spot in the industry: what happens to synthetic display materials at the end of their life.
The award-winning company is starting with Stretch Fabric Media Walls, described as the first product in what Easy Signs calls a growing CiCLO range, with fabric banners, table throws and crowd-control barriers already in development. CiCLO is a patented additive built into polyester and nylon fibres during manufacturing, creating microscopic points that allow the material to biodegrade in environmental waste conditions in a manner similar to a natural fibre, without changing how the fabric looks, prints or performs.
According to Easy Signs, the technology is already used in other textile sectors, but this marks its first adoption within Australia’s print and signage industry. Independent, accredited laboratory testing under international standards — including ISO 19679 for seawater and ISO 15985 for landfill conditions — found that CiCLO-enhanced fabric reached more than 90 per cent biodegradation within roughly two and a half to four years, compared with almost none for untreated polyester over the same period.
For an industry that relies heavily on synthetic fabrics for soft signage, exhibition graphics and retail displays, the announcement speaks to a mounting pressure point: microplastic pollution risk when synthetic signage is discarded or lost as litter. “We wanted to explore this innovation, we’re always looking for new ways to improve and offer our customers more,” said Andy Fryer, director of Easy Signs. “Being first mattered to us. We have clients right across the country, from councils to major brands, who, like us, are looking for better ways to operate more sustainably and think ahead.”
The chemistry used to make CiCLO is Eco Passport by Oeko-Tex certified and REACH compliant, with testing carried out by third-party laboratories including Intertek, Bureau Veritas and Eden Research Laboratory. Easy Signs says it is already seeing a growing preference for more sustainable options from customers, evidence of real appetite for products that help businesses reduce their environmental footprint.
The significance extends beyond one product line. As governments and specifiers tighten expectations around textile waste and litter, printers that can offer a credible end-of-life story gain a commercial edge in tenders for councils, events and major brands. Biodegradable additives that do not compromise print quality let converters meet those expectations without re-tooling or changing the visual standard customers expect.
For the broader wide-format and soft-signage segment, Easy Signs’ early adoption is a marker of where the Australian market is heading. With microplastics and single-use plastics under increasing scrutiny, the differentiator is shifting from price and turnaround alone toward demonstrable sustainability — and the printers that can prove it with accredited test data are likely to win the work.
Source: Print21 — “Easy Signs now offering biodegradeable fabric” by Wayne Robinson (25 September 2026).
The accreditation detail matters as much as the claim. With greenwashing under scrutiny, a biodegradation figure backed by ISO 19679 and ISO 15985 testing, plus Oeko-Tex Eco Passport and REACH compliance, gives Easy Signs a defensible story rather than a marketing slogan. For soft-signage printers elsewhere, the pressure to produce comparable evidence is now rising, and suppliers of additive-treated fabrics are likely to lead the next procurement cycle. The microplastics angle is what gives the announcement wider resonance: synthetic display textiles are routinely discarded after events, campaigns and retail refreshes, and when they enter the environment as litter they persist for decades. A fibre that can biodegrade in seawater and landfill conditions without sacrificing print quality directly attacks that liability. For councils, venues and major brands under ESG scrutiny, specifying such materials becomes a low-effort way to cut plastic-pollution exposure in their signage programmes. The commercial logic is equally clear: Easy Signs is differentiating on sustainability rather than competing purely on price and turnaround, a position that protects margin as the soft-signage market commoditises. Other Australian and international printers will feel pressure to match the claim with equivalent evidence, and fabric mills that can supply certified, additive-treated polyester stand to win share. In short, CiCLO is less a single product launch than an early signal of how sustainability credentials will be procured and verified across wide-format soft signage.
The competitive response elsewhere will be the story to watch. Easy Signs has staked an early, verifiable claim in the Australian market, and rivals now face a choice: match the certification and evidence, or concede the sustainability-led segment to a first mover. Because the claim rests on ISO-standard testing and Oeko-Tex certification rather than vague assertions, it sets a bar that weaker green-claims cannot clear, which should progressively squeeze unsubstantiated alternatives out of tender processes. For venues, events and councils — traditionally large consumers of disposable soft signage — specifying CiCLO-type materials is a low-friction way to cut plastic-pollution exposure in their visual communications. The microplastics dimension also intersects with rising regulation on textile waste and litter, meaning the addressable pressure is both commercial and statutory. Easy Signs’ framing, leading with “first in Australia,” is as much a positioning move as a product launch, intended to associate the brand with credible sustainability in a commoditising market. Other printers who can secure equivalently certified fabrics will need to tell that story loudly, because procurement teams are beginning to ask for the test data rather than accepting the claim at face value.
