FLOODING OF FLEX BOARDS

George is an artist who used to make his living by painting hoardings, billboards, and name boards. With his artistic skills, he used to paint letters and images on boards very quickly and perfectly, and make a reasonable income. But now, he finds it difficult to make both ends meet. “Nobody wants an artist or a painter for the job. Advertisers and signage industries are using ‘flex boards’ for displays,” said George.

Flex is a synthetic material which looks like a canvas with plastic coating on one side. Using computerised machines, anything can be printed on it. This material is easily available and very widely used, nowadays. If it has affected the career of painters like George, it has also provided opportunities for many youth. Flex printing is an industry by itself. Many printing units have come up, where they employ qualified personnel with computer skills for operating the systems. An art work- a text or an image- stored on a CD can be printed on the flex exactly like the original art work in the same colour schemes by giving a ‘Print’ command. It takes only a few minutes to get a large size flex printed, whereas the painters need about two days and more to complete a hoarding. It costs less than Rs. 30 per square foot to make a printed display on flex, which is more economical compared to painting. Besides, a flex can be easily installed, removed, or replaced. The time and cost involved in the making and the easiness of installation makes flex the most preferred material in the industry.

Flex is not only used by the signage industry, but also by individuals, organizations, shops and establishments, political parties and contestants of elections. Due to its strength and waterproof nature, people have started using flex for covering roofs, making tents and shamianas.




We all have seen stunningly attractive colourfuldisplays in front of show rooms. It seems like most of us are not aware of the harmful effects of this material. “It starts polluting right from the stage of manufacture. The dyes used for printing produce pungent smelling gases which are harmful and unbearable,” said Sunil, an employee of a printing unit. “The smell of these chemicals causes nausea,” added his colleague Ramu. The large formathoardings kept at a certain height block the air circulation by preventing the breeze. There have been cases of hoardings falling down due to heavy winds and causing harm to the people. Like any other synthetic material, disposal of flex is a cause for concern.   

This will not decompose in soil, nor is recyclable. Users are now selling used material and buyers are making use of it for various applications- mainly to protect houses from water leakage during rains. Unsold and torn material is burned away which again pollutes the atmosphere with harmful smoke. Cities like Delhi and Chennai have banned flex boards in certain areas. But in our cities, use of flex is increasing. In Trivandrum, we are able to see hundreds of big and small flex boards tied up to lamp poles, telephone poles, and railings, spoiling the beauty of the city. 

There were reports that flex is banned at Secretariat premises, but even now we can see some boards near the Statue area. One can see hundreds of flex boards with photos of political leaders at various parts of the city. So are the posters of cinemas. “Flex boards are spoiling the beauty of the city. These boards divert the attention of vehicle drivers,” said Roy Mathew, Stark Communications. “Disposal of used flex is the real problem. A total ban on the product is unthinkable because of its wide acceptance,” Govind, the Branch Head of TDI, expressed his views. The flooding of flex boards and the relative issues of pollution and otherside effects can be minimised if the Government and the local administration bring in some regulations. Like in many other major cities, display of flex boards can be regulated to specified locations and specified dimensions. To avoid misuse of flex and spoiling the roads and other public places, the local authorities should fix the responsibility of removal and disposal of the used flex with the advertiser. The lack of such a move from the side of the authorities is now evident because flex boards are seen at various places even after the expiry of campaigns or after the displayed event. Anyway, it is high time for the administration to act upon to minimize the bad effects of the material called ‘Flex’.

This article was written by me for the news portal yentha.com.