Sound Investment: Albis, Partners Tout ‘PVC-free’ Vinyl Records

Italy’s Greenyl using chemically recycled PET from SK Chemicals

Resin distributor Albis and Italian “sustainable vinyl” maker Greenyl SRL have partnered to spin a whole new tune when it comes to manufacturing eco-friendly record albums.

Using a resin called Skypet CR from South Korea’s SK Chemicals, an Albis partner, the firms say they have developed a way to make recyclable, PVC-free vinyl records that also significantly reduces the carbon footprint of pressing records the traditional way.

Milan-based Greenyl –– whose name is derived from “green vinyl” –– says that old-style record-pressing plants still use intensive steam boilers and “a toxic brew of chemicals” to manufacture records, which may result in a high dispersion of toxic substances into the environment. With the traditional production system, vinyl produces 12 times more toxic emissions than other physical music media.

Greenyl says it uses an innovative, completely automated production process that is powered by renewable energy.

Chemically recycled PET waste

Enter Skypet CR. Containing up to 99 percent chemically recycled PET waste, the use of this resin is said to result in a significant saving of 7.1kg CO₂e/kg compared to PVC. Greenyl calls this crystalline polyester grade a sustainable drop-in solution that further aids the circular economy beyond the product’s useful life since the resulting records can also be fully recycled and reused.

“The solution Albis provided allows us to take another step on our sustainability journey without compromising any technical requirements of the manufacturing process,” said Greenyl CEO and Production Manager Luca Terenzi. “Our choice to use material that is both recyclable and already recycled clearly demonstrates how the material loop can be closed with the right ambition.”

Stephan Schoen, senior director of product management at Albis, noted: “Skypet CR even enables hard-to-recycle plastic waste to be returned to the material stream, resulting in an overall higher recycling rate as well as a reduced dependency and use of emission-intensive material.”

Hamburg, Germany-based Albis Distribution GmbH & Co. KG, which has been distributing copolyester products from SK Chemicals in the EMEA region since 2020, said it will display the Greenyl vinyl records at this week’s Fakuma trade fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany, on Stand B4-4206.