Should we recycle plastic bottles into vinyl records?

How are cardboard sleeves driving the resurgence of vinyl records – and could plastic bottles become a viable raw material for the records themselves?

In this edition of the Brief, we delve into the correlation between the trend of collectable album ‘variants’ and their packaging waste, and consider whether our industry’s trash could become treasure for vinyl manufacturers amidst ever-increasing demand.

Vinyl records are making a definitive cultural comeback. In the United States alone, Luminate reports that half of all albums sold last year – a total of 47.9 million units – were in vinyl format.

Several factors are at play in this revival, from a perceived improvement in sound quality to a growing rejection of digital media. Yet the record sleeve itself plays a prominent role as the current landscape of devoted fan culture gives rise to a new business model: album variants.

Deluxe editions and anniversary re-releases are nothing new, but musicians are increasingly selling multiple versions of the same record upon or shortly after its release, with each variant differentiated by the album artwork, vinyl pressings, and exclusive bonus tracks.

“We live in this day and age where, for some reason, it’s very important to some artists to make all sorts of different vinyl and packaging, which ups the sales and ups the numbers and gets them more money,” commented singer-songwriter Billie Eilish in an interview with Billboard. “I can’t even express to you how wasteful it is.”

Indeed, variants are thought to help musicians influence their chart position or draw attention to their project in a saturated industry. What some consider an exploitative business practice, others consider a creative workaround in the age of streaming; United Musicians and Allied Workers estimates that Spotify pays its artists less than $0.0003 per stream, whereas a new vinyl release typically costs $20-$35 per record.

To this end, devoted fans are encouraged to buy multiple copies of an artist’s latest release – and the incentive is often as simple as a selection of outer record sleeves. Last year’s best-selling record, Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl, currently exists in eight vinyl variants. This includes five different album covers, four of which come in multiple disc colours. Seven-inch vinyls are available for each of the album’s three singles, each with its own unique artwork.

More creative approaches are also coming to light. One of Swift’s previous albums, Midnights, was made available in four vinyl variants, and consumers could buy one of each to complete a full ‘clock’ design. An extra kit was originally available to turn the collection into a functioning clock (the components were delivered in a separate box and protective foam).

Such marketing tactics appear to be effective for artists with a dedicated fan community. A survey conducted by the University of Glasgow found that 57% of respondents owned multiple copies of the same record, but not necessarily for listening purposes. 87% of 18-to-24-year-olds sought to own records to showcase their fan status and music taste, but continued to listen via streaming for their convenience – and according to The Economist, half of vinyl buyers in the United States do not even own a record player.

Naturally, this collector’s mentality has environmental implications. Buying multiple copies of the same record consumes more material than strictly necessary, and if the product itself is never used, the cardboard sleeve serves the same purpose as lighter-weight merchandise such as a poster. Yet it is technically a reusable and recyclable packaging format – and unlike the protective plastic film, it isn’t being discarded after one use. Are we overstating its potential for harm?

‘Waste in the making’

Firstly, we should consider the cumulative impact of such high demand. The Vinyl Record Manufacturers Associationasserts that a major label release from a global artist – presumably pressed on conventional polyvinyl chloride (PVC), dressed up in ‘extensive’ packaging and shipped internationally via airfreight – might generate something in the ballpark of 5-to-6 kg CO2e per unit. Figures may vary if an artist only sources their materials and distributes the records at a local scale, but we can assume that producing multiple variants contributes extra emissions.

What about the sleeve’s actual use? Reflecting on the variant phenomenon earlier this year, Packaging Europe brand director Tim Sykes wrote: “Assuming it stays in good condition, [a record sleeve] stores and protects the product for its entire life cycle and remains in a collector’s possession for years. However, it will only ever be displayed in said collector’s home, if not kept in storage, and stay out of the material loop for a long time.”

Another factor at play is the record’s longevity as a valuable product. Victrola indicates that the disc itself can last for over a century under the right conditions, but they can also become unusable if warped or cracked. Would a consumer necessarily choose to keep the sleeve once the record has been thrown away?

Moreover, Tim asks whether we should consider sleeves to be “waste in the making” when pop culture is constantly evolving. Most musicians will lose mainstream relevance over time, and today’s most sought-after records may not maintain their sentimental or monetary value down the line. It’s possible that millions of records and their sleeves could end up in the waste stream, whether directly or through unsold second-hand stock, in the coming years.

The University of Glasgow went on to ask its survey participants whether they would consider foregoing a PVC record in their purchase, instead receiving the cardboard sleeve for display purposes and a download link to stream the music itself. Only 5% answered with a definitive yes, and one in four said they would consider it – despite 70% of respondents believing that climate change should take priority over other global issues.

So, if the record is a non-negotiable, is there a better way to manufacture it than with a fossil-based polymer? Could we even source the raw materials from another contributor to the plastic waste crisis: packaging?

Recycled records

Sonopress is steadily gaining traction with its EcoRecord, the ‘next-generation’ LP that replaces PVC with virgin or recycled PET. Compared to a traditional vinyl pressing, the EcoRecord is believed to reduce the average CO2 footprint by 42% and consume 85% less energy.

Rock band Coldplay became one of its pioneers with their studio album Moon Music. Every vinyl pressing was said to contain nine plastic bottles sourced from consumer waste, but a limited-edition run also utilized waste plastic retrievedfrom the Rio Las Vacas by The Ocean Cleanup’s Interceptor 006. According to Coldplay, this approach avoided the manufacture of over 25 metric tonnes of virgin plastic.

Other artists have since followed suit. Recent albums to utilize the EcoRecord include Oh! The Ocean by The Wombats, Lorde’s Virgin, and Florescence from Maisie Peters. Special-edition releases have also been launched in this format, including a Record Store Day exclusive of Ashnikko’s Demidevil and anniversary editions from Ed Sheeran and Marina Diamandis.

As demand for vinyl records increases year-on-year, one might wonder whether plastic bottles could become a more sustainable raw material to manufacture them.

PET is an international favourite in bottle production. Previous figures have attributed 30% of all PET output to plastic bottles, and its recyclability is a well-known perk: the polymer’s global mechanical recycling capacity apparently exceeded 9.8 million metric tons per year in 2025.

Yet the format remains a prevalent source of discarded plastic. For instance, the Container Recycling Institute has reported that 98% of the 86 billion plastic bottles sold across the United States in 2021 were made of PET, but American consumers were thought to waste 66% of the beverage containers they bought, including 61 billion plastic water bottles.

With the polymer’s market volume expected to reach 35.13 Mt by 2030, a significant portion of it driven by plastic bottles, could we use one industry’s surplus to tackle the environmental implications of PVC records?

The obvious concern is the risk of ‘downcycling’ if high-quality recyclate is taken out of circulation. Bottle-to-bottle recycling loops help avoid the unnecessary extraction of virgin materials and the extra energy used in the manufacturing process, but Zero Waste Europe has already expressed concerns that new bottles on the European market contain just 17% rPET on average. Other viable recyclate is often relegated to lower-grade applications.

Cost is also a prevalent factor. Last February, one tonne of recycled PET was said to cost between $750 and $850 morethan a tonne of virgin PET, so manufacturers are already struggling to afford recyclate for packaging applications. Redirecting this supply to another industry altogether is bound to raise prices further and introduce knock-on effects for legally binding recycled content thresholds (e.g. the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive’s minimum of 30% recyclate for single-use plastic beverage bottles by January 2030).

That being said, Coldplay’s limited-edition records contained post-consumer materials that had already escaped the waste stream and polluted a river. Plastics retrieved from the natural environment are considered unsafe for food-contact packaging, so bottle-to-bottle recycling would have been impossible in that context. If EcoRecords could keep repurposing contaminated or degraded bottles, it could potentially extend their lifespan by decades (although it remains unclear whether the disc could be recycled again at its own end-of-life).

Of course, this assumes that the ‘nine plastic bottles’ claim is literal and accurate. One Reddit user claiming to work for the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) indicates that the figure is “essentially based on calculations for how much recycled plastic is needed to produce a vinyl” and is “likely not certified based on the language.”

Wesley Wolfe of bespoke record maker Tangible Formats also told the BBC that, while his own incorporation of crisp packets, candy wrappers, fishing nets and other waste plastics into vinyl records resulted in a “swirling collage of colours” that made every disc look unique, widespread production is not yet viable.

“I think the demand would be there for it,” he said. “It’s more about [having] the time and money for already established pressing plants to start adjusting the way they do things to handle this.”

Precision Record Pressing takes a more circular approach, converting rejected or misprinted records and vinyl shavings into Eco-Mix discs. Billie Eilish is the most famous musician to use these records to date, taking an additional focus on sustainability-minded design across her merchandise packaging: FSC-certified recycled paper and board, recyclable sleeves with zero shrink wrap, water-based coatings, plant-based inks, and more.

Both technologies are ultimately very new, and the most direct way to address vinyl waste would be to prevent overconsumption. However, the variant business model shows little sign of slowing down anytime soon, and Kyle Devine – currently a professor in the University of Winnipeg’s Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences – tells CBCthat manufacturers must overcome some teething problems with sound quality before we can expect recycled records to go completely mainstream.

Even so, household names and smaller artists alike are helping to trial and publicize solutions that look towards a more sustainable future for vinyl collecting. Between recycled discs and recyclable sleeves, the music industry – for all it can promote hyper-consumption – appears to be taking steps in the right direction.

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