A year ago, we launched laya with a simple belief: that post-event carpet deserved a second life.

We knew creating products from recycled exhibition carpet wouldn’t be easy. We expected the technical challenges, the material testing and the countless prototypes. What we underestimated was something else entirely.

Creating the product was only half the journey.

Selling sustainable products into a market driven by price is the real challenge.

Take our sunglasses. They’re handmade in the UK from recycled exhibition carpet, supporting local manufacturing while giving waste a new purpose. But that comes at a cost. They retail for around £80.

The irony wasn’t lost on us when we launched laya. Directly opposite our stand, another exhibitor was running a brand activation giving away free sunglasses with every pint of beer. We were asking people to see value in a handcrafted product made from recycled materials, while just a few metres away, sunglasses had become a disposable marketing giveaway.

It’s a stark reminder of the world sustainable businesses are trying to compete in.

People often tell us they want sustainable products, and we genuinely believe they do. But when sustainability comes with a higher price tag, purchasing decisions become much more complicated.

This isn’t a criticism of consumers. It’s the economic reality we’ve created.

Cheap products are rarely cheap by accident. The environmental cost, the materials, the transport, the labour and the end-of-life impact are often absorbed somewhere else in the system. Products like ours simply make those costs visible.

That doesn’t mean we’ve got it wrong.

In fact, the past year has reinforced why laya exists in the first place.

We’ve won awards. Our chairs have been recognised by the plastics industry for demonstrating how exhibition carpet can become beautiful, functional furniture. We’ve collaborated with brilliant partners who share our belief that valuable materials should remain in circulation, not become waste after a single use.

Every conversation, every exhibition and every challenge has taught us something.

Innovation isn’t just about inventing a product. It’s about changing behaviour. It’s about helping people understand the true cost of what they buy, and the true value of products designed to last.

If we’re serious about building a circular economy, we also need to be serious about creating a market that supports it.

One year on, we’re still learning. Still evolving. Still proving what’s possible with a material most people never think about.

And if there’s one thing we’ve learnt over the past twelve months, it’s this:

Creating a circular product is difficult.

Creating demand for it is even harder.

But that’s exactly why we’re not stopping.