The demonization of PVC vinyl records, as plastic, is exaggerated and superficial.

In the era of digitalization and musical immateriality we think that the disc , or as it was called in the past, LP , can have a negative environmental impact as it is produced with PVC, a virgin plastic derived from oil and that the music we listen to in streaming, not being reproduced by a solid object, such as a disc, has little or no impact. Nothing more wrong .

The history of 33 rpm vinyl records , was born in 1948, at the end of the second world war, by ColumbiaRecords in the United States , following a technological evolution of the musical production that was governed by shellac records, the famous 78 laps , which allowed a greater listening in terms of time, reaching 30-40 minutes per side.

The technical innovations concerned not only the materials used for the production of the disc , passing precisely from the wax of 78 rpm to the PVC of 33 rpm, but also through the innovations on the technology of reproducing music on the disc itself. It then passed on the technology of the 78s, which used a macro deep furrow, to the microgroove technology with the storage of sound signals by analogy.

If the material that made up the 33 rpm remained fairly unchanged over the years, the quality of the engraved sound gradually increased starting from the 60s of the last century, when the quadraphonic matrix technology was introduced, recording the musical signals separately in the disc, giving the impression of being wrapped in music.

Although this technology did not take off significantly due to the high cost of music reproduction systems, the LP had a formidable worldwide success , an undisputed means of listening to music until the end of the 70s when the production of cassettes began and from the years 80 that of CDs .

The downward trend in vinyl record sales continued until the early 1990s when production ceased in much of the world.

Today in which we live in the era of the use of products, without owning them, music is listened to in streaming, on platforms such as Spotify , Apple Music , just to name a few, in a continuous disposable activity, with enormous listening volumes .

Precisely in this period of immateriality, possession of the LP as a collector’s item is returning to the fore, as if it were a painting, a precious book, a jewel, which are and will be elements that will be part of our life. This activity does not only concern the old 33 rpm records printed in the 60-80s, but also concerns the new productions, so much so that the record companies have again equipped themselves to provide a physical format to the music of their artists.

But how is an LP made?

Vinyl records are made through the hot molding process, using a press fed by a granulated PVC , suitably modified and called a biscuit , with which the shape and grooves from a mother mold are made. After pressing, the discs may have irregular edges, which is why they are trimmed to give the disc the appearance we all know.

Does the PVC disc pollute more than streaming?

We can therefore say that a PVC disc is nothing but one of the many plastic products that are made in the world and that its existence, in itself, is not a polluting element, but like all products, even non-plastic ones , must to be part of a circular economy.

It makes species read authoritative test articles that define a PVC product, as such, dangerous for the environment and the health of workers , following the fumes and pollutants that the productions would make.

What has been said, which follows the popular wave, with little competence on the problem of plastic, does not do much species , but it leads to a certain perplexity to think that first level newspapers, treat the problem of plastic so unprofessionally and of PVC.

In any case, the LP, has a production, in quantitative terms, very limited and even more unlikely that the vinyl record will end up after listening in the dustbin, as it is an object that creates empathy with those who bought it and it will probably be preserved with great care and for a long time.

However, we must also consider the impact that listening to streaming music produces every day on the environment, because the fact of not owning an object, such as a disc that could turn into waste, does not mean that the environmental impact of listening music is zero.

For the willingness of billions of pieces of music on our phones, laptops or tablets involves storing music files in special facilities, which are fed by using the ‘energy that is not always renewable. If it is true that streaming a single song involves very limited energy consumption, it is also true that the availability of unlimited music has increased the listening of the songs exponentially with the relative environmental consequences .

In the United States, it has been estimated that emissions, in terms of greenhouse gases, related to the music streaming sector, are around 200 million tons , according to conservative estimates and 350 million according to other estimates.