[Editorial] Sonopress makes eco-sustainable LPs and CDs from recycled materials

Exactly two years ago, in July 2022, I wrote about the advent of eco-sustainable LPs made by GreenVinyl. It seems the green trend shows no signs of fading, so much so that another German company, Sonopress, which has already printed LPs from recycled vinyl, ventures into the production of eco-friendly CDs, the so-called EcoCDs. Sonopress vinyls were already popular, as used for the reissues of the new albums by Ed Sheeran, Liam Gallagher and John Squire and the rapper Ashnikko. This kind of vinyl is produced using recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as a base material, which can also be made from 100% recycled PET, rather than with polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Printing discs does not require any natural gas nor steam and a lab test showed energy savings of up to 85% compared to the traditional process.

The news of these last days is the birth of the new EcoCD, produced in recycled plastic, for the new album Coldplay album “Moon Music”. The pop-rock band Coldplay announced the vinyl version of their new album from the stage during a sold-out concert in Budapest. Each copy was made on average with nine recycled PET plastic bottles. This has avoided the production of more than 25 tons of virgin plastic and reduced CO2 emissions by 85% during the production process compared to a traditional 140 gram vinyl LP.

Now fans will also be able to have the EcoCD version of this album, made of 90% recycled polycarbonate derived from waste. This reduces the CO2 emissions associated with the material by 78% and, in the case of the new Coldplay CD, avoids the production of more than five tons of virgin plastic. The basic material used in its production is polycarbonate, 90% of which is made of recycled material, i.e. mechanically recycled polycarbonate which has already passed through the production and economic cycle. Only 10% of the raw material is virgin plastic, of fossil origin (plastic comes from oil, indeed). Together with the organization The Ocean Cleanup the material was collected from plastic waste polluting the Rio Las Vacas in Guatemala.

The new EcoCD is produced using conventional injection moulding machines, extensively modified by Sonopress. According to the company, recycled polycarbonate behaves differently from the usual material used to produce CDs, e.g. in terms of viscosity and other properties of the product.

In short, it really seems that the music world is becoming greener and greener even if, to tell the truth, the real green revolution has already taken place thanks to the almost total disappearance of physical media, given that nowadays music is mainly listened to from immaterial files (very little polluting!) in a percentage close to 90%, as highlighted in our editorial dedicated to the music market, a few months ago. It's fine to make that meagre 10% of physical media eco-friendly, but let's not get too excited. It's just 10%, and maybe less in upcoming years.

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July 2024 Editorial

Musical media are quickly becoming eco-friendy