The resurgent popularity of vinyl records has one downside.
Vinyl.
Yes, the material used to create vinyl LPs is PVC or polyvinyl chloride, a synthetic polymer of plastic and a by-product of the oil industry. It’s a good thing we all treasure our vinyl albums, because PVC can take up to 1,000 years to decompose in a landfill.
In an effort to better dodge the problem, Coldplay’s newly released 10th record, Moon Music, arrives as vinyl albums produced from PET-plastic bottles recovered from consumer waste. A separate “notebook” edition is made from 70 percent river plastic that was taken from the Rio Las Vacas in Guatemala.
The eco-oriented band said this approach will reduce carbon emissions by 85 percent and prevent the manufacture of more than 25 metric tonnes of virgin plastic.
The CD editions of Moon Music were manufactured in a new format called EcoCD from Sonopress. These discs are created from 90 percent recycled polycarbonate, and the company says there is 78 percent reduction in emissions compared with the traditional CD manufacturing process.