The Advertising Carbon Footprint Index (ACFI): A Smart, Sustainable, And Green Framework For Decarbonizing Urban Advertising In Heritage Cities

Abstract

The growth of outdoor advertising is said to produce significant GHG emissions and plastic waste in heritage cities (UNESCO 2021, UN-Habitat 2020), while being integral to urban messaging and commerce. The most widely used outdoor advertising medium in India is the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) flex banner. The body of research indicates that the climate damage caused by it is in the range of 25-30 kg CO2e/m² across its life-cycle (Gervasio & Dimova, 2015). Additionally, they generate approximately 600 g/m² of non-biodegradable, toxic plastic waste, which persists for over 200 years (Geyer et al., 2017). In Amritsar, which uses around 1,00,000 m² of flex each year, any such material generates an annual footprint of nearly 2,500 tCO2e (greenhouse gas emissions) and 600 tons of plastic residues (Municipal Corporation of Amritsar, 2023). Moreover, incineration releases toxic dioxins and heavy-metal furans into the atmosphere, thereby increasing air pollution and heightening public health risks (WHO, 2023). As a result, the advertising business, despite being a substantial cost in quantifiable terms, is often excluded from cities' decarbonization and circular economy plans (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2019). Using Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) of materials, cost modeling, and Monte Carlo simulations (10,000 run; ±20% variation) on different. At operational scales (10,000-100,000 m²/y), the ACFI was used to compare conventional PVC flex with reusable cloth banners and seed paper. Flyers, electronic ads, and circulars are reused. Findings show a profound economic hierarchy in the environment. The study finds that a reusable piece of cloth (ACFI.0.6), which can be reused twenty times, helps reduce emissions by 70% (from 2500 to 650 tCO2e), reduce life-cycle costs by 80% (from 500 to 75 per-use), and generate over 800 local jobs through its production and usage. Approximately 600 local jobs for every 100,000 square meters. Seed-paper posters (ACFI: 1.2) are expensive but have an emission of only 0.5-1 kg CO2e/A3-sheet and create 900+ artisans' jobs per 100 campaigns. Digital advertising (ACFI: 2.5) generates no physical waste but emits around 0.67 g CO2e/impression (~540 kg per 10,000 impressions) due to server energy use (Malmodin & Lundén, 2018). The standard PVC flex performs poorly in ACFI. A hybrid Smart-Sustainable-Green (SSG) can be followed. According to the Climate Change Adaptation Framework for Infrastructure (ACFI), a framework developed by global governments, advertising is included as a measurable data sector. Integrating accountability for emissions, the circular economy, and social justice into the communication systems cities use every day would help achieve SDG 11.