Evovinyl
The original bioplastic lp (tm)
Evolution Music Ltd has enabled the production of Evovinyl™ bioplastic LPs through its R&D and supply chain relationships. The process of manufacturing the bioplastic LPs remains the same as those for PVC LPs. Only the raw materials are changed, with complementary people and planet friendly packaging used. A number of different pressing plants have completed trials with us, using different pressing machines, to ensure the solution works for the main types of presses in use.
Our initial projects are showing around 15% energy savings through lower production temperatures being needed for the Evovinyl material. In some pressing trials, this saving of heating and cooling time is giving higher output per hour in commercial scale production runs (in some cases up to 50% higher). So as well as the material being people and planet friendly, that’s two more direct benefits from using Evovinyl. And any ‘waste’ (e.g. trimmings) can be used to produce ‘Evovinyl regrind’ LPs, with the same quality of product as the virgin Evovinyl material. So apart from the essential job of flushing out the pressing machines to avoid PVC-Evovinyl cross-contamination, we’re essentially creating a near zero waste and 100% industrially compostable non-toxic product. This is inline with our aim to provide products and manufacturing options that deliver solutions to multiple problems.
WHAT WE DO AND WHY
Evolution Music Ltd are focused on providing a high-quality product supported by high quality customer service. This approach is essential to the values that we work by (Earth Care; People Care: Fair Share), and which guide Evolution Music Ltd as an ethical business. We are focused on working with our supply partners to minimise the impacts and maximise the benefits of using people and planet friendly materials and manufacturing processes for making LPs and other music products.
And if you need to know more about why we and others see Evovinyl a positive alternative to PVC LPs, here’s some information on…
The Problem
41.72 million LPs sold in the USA in 2021
Equates to around 7,500 tonnes of PVC – a massive rise of just over 51% since 2020.
In the UK 5.3million LPs were sold in 2021
Using not far off 1000 tonnes of PVC.
Global production capacity is around 180 million LPs a year
Which with a 140gramme LPs the standard, plus some waste in production, would equate to over 30,000 tonnes of PVC a year
PVC and Music Industry Impacts
Once used to make a product, such as in an LP, PVC is very stable and not toxic in that form. However, the manufacturing of that PVC before it gets to the pressing plant, is a very different matter for human and ecological health.
For a 5 minute video that covers this subject in a succinct and powerful way, Stephen Choi, who is a highly experienced eco architect and a musician (British, based in Australia), produced this great informative and entertaining video.
Professor Kyle Devine’s book Decomposed: the political ecology of music (MIT Press, 2019) highlights many of the problems with the PVC supply chain.. We are actually pleased to see many PVC companies now offering various ‘bio vinyl’ options, with some going further than others. Our aim is to offer simply the best 100% reliable, non-toxic bioplastic alternative we can, which does not support companies that are still mainly producing oil-based PVC and other plastics with manufacturing processes that have significant toxic impacts. We aim to do this because there is clearly demand for cleaner greener alternatives, and because it simply doesn’t seem that the planet and human / ecosystem health can handle the current load of oil-based plastics and toxic manufacturing anymore. We believe we need more positive and more radical, evolutionary alternatives, and that is all we aim to provide.
“Music is not simply a passive observer of the plastic age. It is an active contributor to petrocapitalism, an agent of petroculture.“
“…the miniaturisation of music and their increased energy efficiency are offset by the massification of devices and listening… the environmental cost of music is now greater than at any time in recorded music’s previous eras.“
Kyle’s book Decomposed highlights that all the major forms of music consumption – LPs, CDs, and streaming – have huge but different environmental impacts. It makes clear that streaming has led to a massive increase in music consumption, in all forms. Kyle’s more recent book with other contributing authors Audible Infrastructures: Music, Sound, Media (Oxford University Press, 2021) delves deeper into the often hidden infrastructures and considerable impacts that enable music to be produced and enjoyed.
This excellent article The environmental impact of music: digital, records, CDs analysed by Sharon George and Deirdre McKay of Keele University (UK) also provides an excellent summary of the key issues and concerns in these areas.
In summary it is increasingly apparent that the industry’s impacts are growing, and streaming’s overall impact is enormous and complex, although different to LPs and CDs. Professor Kyle Devine is an important member of Evolution Music’s Advisory Board, and states:
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