Instead of making records out of ordinary PVC pellets, in the past few years it has become possible to use renewable sources such as cooking oil or wood pulp – which artists, including Enter Shikari, say is the way forward.
Taylor Swift’s new album has helped boost weekly vinyl sales for the past 30 years – but is our renewed love of record ownership ecological?
PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), the plastic traditionally used to make records, is not good for the planet, and packaging has also been a concern, as vinyl sales have grown in recent years.
Roo Reynolds, frontman of chart-topping rock band Enter Shikari, believes that mainstream artists need to take some responsibility to “drive” change.
“The bigger you are as an artist, the more influence you have, the more you can push things forward and accelerate development,” he says.
In an interview with Billboard in March, Billie Eilish criticized how “wasteful” it is for “some of the biggest artists in the world” to produce “40 different vinyl packages” each containing “a different unique thing just so you keep buying more “.
“It’s a reasonable criticism,” says Reynolds, “but I think it’s going to mostly disappear once the use of BioVinyl, for example, becomes the standard — it’s really going to take away the opportunity for criticism.”
Instead of making records with the usual PVC pellets, in the last few years it has become possible to use renewable sources such as oil or wood pulp.
“Traditional vinyl is an oil-based product,” Reynolds explains. “Nobody really wants to support fossil fuel extraction anymore.”
Enter Shikari now insists that all their records are made using BioVinyl, and Reynolds is optimistic that if more artists demand what their records are made of, this will become the new norm.
“A lot of independent artists like myself, we can start these fires, then they spread, and before you know it, it’s the industry standard.”
“Achievements are incredible”
The leading voices in vinyl want the music industry to listen to them.
“Together with the Vinyl Alliance and the Vinyl Record Manufacturers Association, we look at the entire production chain,” says Karen Emanuel, chief executive of Key Production, the UK’s largest physical music broker.
“I’ve been in the business for probably about 35 years and the progress that’s been made is incredible. Many large companies in the production of plastics, for PVC, they have found a way to replace fossil fuel elements [which] could mean a 90% reduction in vinyl’s carbon footprint.”
The catch, for now, is in the price.
“It’s a little bit more expensive to produce, but if enough people produce with it, the price will come down … that’s what we’re really trying to push people to do.”
Will fans be happy to pay more for a greener product?
Lee Jeffries, owner of Sonic Wax Pressing in Leicestershire, is such a big vinyl lover that he spent £100,000 to buy the world’s most valuable Motown record.
“At the end of the day, it all comes down to retail,” he says. “And with the retail prices of vinyl already pretty high, it’s very difficult for people to have the extra cash to buy biodegradable vinyl.”
But a recent survey by Key Production found that more than two-thirds (69%) of vinyl record buyers said they would be encouraged to buy more if records were made with less impact on the environment.
The findings also showed that the vast majority, 77%, of repeat vinyl customers are willing to pay a premium for low-impact products, indicating significant market demand for environmentally friendly alternatives.
Is there a bigger problem?
Ultimately, either the consumer, the artists, or the labels will have to shoulder the costs if vinyl is made more sustainably.
But while a big old hunk of PVC might seem like the least eco-friendly option, are we falling into a spiral when we also have to look the other way?
Figures from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) put global vinyl sales last year at about 80 million – using the Association of Independent Music Companies’ IMPALA music emissions calculator, which works out to a production of about 156,000 tons of CO2 emissions.
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If you compare that to streaming, Spotify has about a third of the market, estimates of global carbon emissions last year were 280,000 tonnes, with huge amounts of electricity used to power storage servers.
For Enter Shikari’s Reynolds, the potential to make vinyl greener is exciting.
“It has the same quality, the same look, you really won’t notice the difference, which is incredible,” he says. “I think it speaks to the fact that people often think that a transitional society is about to pass, we think we’re going to lose luxuries … but I think that’s just an example of why that’s not the case.
“You know, all it takes is some thought and some adaptation and then some adoption… it’s very exciting.”
Maybe it’s time the music industry took note.