ENVIRONMENT: Does vinyl really need to be plastic shrink-wrapped?
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ENVIRONMENT: Does vinyl really need to be plastic shrink-wrapped?

While I’m not exactly a tree hugger, a subject dear to me is waste. Having previously worked in the packing industry, and fruitlessly smashed my social responsibility hammer against the brick wall of corporate profit, I gave up and started skratchworx. And while some industries press the environmentally friendly button, the DJ industry has been a tad quiet in this respect. This is something I plan to address, starting today.

In the last few weeks, plastic waste has been a hot news topic. Governments and industries have made noises about reducing or eliminating the mountains of plastic the ends up on the oceans, possibly so the share price doesn’t get hit too hard. And around this time, a discussion popped up on my Face timeline. Sy Matic from Cut & Paste Records asked a question about plastic shrink sleeves on vinyl. Apparently he’s been asked by distributors to make sure that every release is sealed before delivery. But he just sees it, quite rightly, as waste.

ENVIRONMENT: Does vinyl really need to be plastic shrink-wrapped?

Why seal?

In all honestly, after digging around the net, I’m still not 100% sure. It started back in the 60s, and the first obvious reason would be to protect the vinyl in transit and in store. If vinyl is sealed, it stops the great unwashed from pawing the press-fresh vinyl. It also has the secondary purpose of stopping people buying, recording, and returning purchases.

So I get why shops and distributors would want sealed copies. But the seal delivers more something for vinyl collectors old and new. It’s the guarantee that the copy you’re getting on Discogs has never been played, touched, or otherwise gouged at by invading needles. It is the assurance of being worth more, often exponentially more. It stops being VG or NM — it’s a physical force field that ensures a mint copy. And if it has original stickers on that cannot be replaced on a dodgy reseal, then even better.

TO SEAL OR NOT TO SEAL

If you’re a DJ, you buy vinyl to use. It is a tool, a consumable to be employed like any other. That seal comes off the minute it’s home, gets thrown in the bin, and possibly ends up strangling the intestines of a dolphin in the Maldives, or choking a puffin on a cliff face.

Collectors however crave the seal. It’s staying put and never coming off while they draw breath, or at least while they own that vinyl anyway. I stupidly used to buy vinyl and keep it sealed, until a few years ago I read this:

“Everyone knows that vinyl sounds better sealed”

There it is — the stupidity of keeping vinyl safely wrapped in its cardboard coffin. Music is to be played and loved, and ideally passed onto the next generation.

If you keep vinyl sealed for value reasons, then you’re just stockpiling cardboard and plastic and using it as some sort of future currency, and as badge of honour. You’re doing it wrong. That said, breaking the seal on my DJ Rectangle box set is proving hard to do. So believe me, I do get it.

Here’s the thing — plastic film is something that gets thrown in the bin, ending up in landfill, and will survive you, me, and many generations of our families. You’ve seen the waste mountain in Idiocracy right? That. But depending on where you live, it can be recycled. Sadly, my local council classes it as “low grade waste” and refuses to take it because it gets tangled up in recycling machines. But a cursory dig around the net shows that other councils are more accepting, and environmentally responsible.

But if it’s tricky to recycle, then it’s polluting the planet. And even if it can be recycled, we must ask ourselves if we need it in the first place. Making plastic film is not exactly helping the planet.

ENVIRONMENT: Does vinyl really need to be plastic shrink-wrapped?
Back on the shelf, still sealed. I chickened out. Besides, I have most of the box as separate LPs anyway. And staying wrapped means less environmental waste right?

Break the seal — and the cycle

One thing is clear from my research — it seems that the majority of record buyers remove the plastic seal immediately, choosing instead to let their vinyl go commando, or more likely safely store their purchase in a looser thicker PVC sleeve.

But having stated that I totally understand why the seal is in place, it’s up to us to make a stand. You need to ask yourself if you as the end user really need that seal. As a record shop owner, is it vital for you to have sealed records? Is there an alternative that gives you what the plastic seal delivers? A tamper proof clear disk sticker over the edge of the sleeve perhaps? A removable sealed flap on the sleeve itself? A perforated inner paper sleeve? There are definitely alternatives that don’t require tons of plastic waste pollution.

OVER TO YOU

When you buy vinyl, do you leave the seal untouched? Break the seal but leave it on? Or do you break your purchase free from its plastic straight jacket immediately? Do you just throw that plastic away or recycle it? Or would you be happy to never see a plastic seal ever again?

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Mark Settle
The Old Owner
I was the editor around these parts for the first two decades of the DJWORX journey. I’m on a creative journey at The Worxlab, and drop in occasionally here. Expect the odd article from me every now and again.
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25 Comments

  2. I think there’s a solution that helps both sides: use classic seals. You can make seals from a range of materials such as candlewax, cloth, paper and they only need to cover a part of the gap so that the inside is not accessible – no need to wrap the whole thing in plastic.

    Protection against dirt, dust and smudges is another thing, but that should be more on a crate basis imho.

  3. So the outer film is just one layer. Then you have the sturdy harder plastic outer sleeve, followed by a wafer thin plastic inner sleeve (if you’re really fastidious about your record collection) until you eventually get to the slab of vinyl…which itself is a sturdy plastic.

    I can almost sense the audiophiles and ultra-collectors getting sensitive about the possibilities of the plastic layers being stripped away from their prized vinyl.

    That outer film is on everything though & is a prime target for elimination. Wrapping a CD case in a film is even crazier.

  4. No idea why sealing with plastic warp in the late 20th- early 21st century.
    The paper cover could be designed in away to be air tight, or there are about hundred different method to still seal a record but without plastic.
    Problem is, its worth to pollute the planet.The law mad(e) in that way. Everything can be deducted from the tax.
    If the governments would say,all the non bio degradable packaging is not only not tax deductible but the producator have to pay lets say 5 USD WHEN the production is made….. well,this would stop the wasting in minutes,since no one can pay in advance a few hundred grand to make a production run.
    F*****g politics

  5. Let me just point out one funny thing: When vinyl is brand new, first removed from it’s sleeve, it’s usually dirty. That’s because the pressing plant uses a powdery release compound to ensure the record comes off of the stamper easily. If it’s a non-audiophile pressing, this is made worse by the static effect of the sleeve it’s put in. So, it being sealed? Doesn’t mean all that much.

  6. In the shop I don’t usually trust other listeners with handling the records properly and/or the store’s needles so I listen to the opened copy and get a wrapped copy if available. I only keep the plastic if there is a special label sleeve or actual artwork to be saved from wear and tear and I don’t have a spare, fitting pvc sleeve available :) Same goes for second hand and for the odd inner paper sleeve with a fancy design.

    For most releases that don’t have fancy stickers (like on those fashionable hats…) I agree shink-wrapping ought to be done away with. When it comes to DJ records, the vast majority don’t seem to care that the outer sleeve is a little scuffed. Besides, the most prominent shops put some PVC sleeves on if there’s nothing…

    Would be interesting to have something that seals without the plastic. I’ve seen a few labels use a sticker across the edge as a seal and quite liked the idea, but is this less expensive than having a custom outer sleeve that seals itself mass produced?

    With no wrapping, more ways for dust etc to get in, but even when it’s shrink-wrapped you have to deal with the center cutouts being done shabbily at least half the time, leaving splinters of paper all over the place anyway, RRGH.

  7. you can always reseal old records with Blake Sleeves wich i assume lots of sellers use to make the records look like new again.
    i got about 1000 of them without the sticky flap.

    i dont like old worn paper jackets hence i purchased those Blake sleeves.

  8. A “three hugger” huh? Yes Dan IQ’s are at a questionably low point…………. :) Vinyl sells for more and is easier to sell if sealed. These are facts. If you plan to use sell if you plan to use open. I always order multiples so I have the best of both worlds :)

  10. Plastic left on if there’s stickers. Plastic recycled if not. Never bought anything and left it sealed. Would be cool if packaging was sealed with a place to open along a perforated line. Seems pretty simple

  11. great article…

    Seeing how easy it is to “re seal” anything (just look on Youtube) a nice (good looking) paper seal around the paper sleeve could be a better and more environmental friendly solution.

  12. Doing some numbers to give context to this. Getting some numbers from online sources — US and UK LP sales in 2017 amounted to 18m units. Assuming that the string wrap process is efficient, that’s 24″ of plastic x 18 million. That’s a staggering 432m inches, 36m feet, 12m yards, or 6818 miles (of 10972km) of plastic. That’s just 2017.

    In terms people can understand — that’s a meandering scenic drive from LA to NYC, and back again. You could follow Mexico’s border and still have enough left do Portugal too. It’s literally one quarter of the circumference of the Earth of non-degradable plastic waste in 2017, just from 2017 UK and US sales alone.

  13. Shrink wrap bugs the everliving shit out of me. What I do love tho, are the records that come in sealed plastic sleeves. The seeled sleeve doubles as a protective sleeve. They have a tear off top, so only the small bit of plastic at the top is wasted.

  14. Records are sealed for several reasons one is to avoid mould and waterdamage in transport from condensation etc. And also because its easier to return and restock sealed records. Lots off shops have the right to return unsold vinyl to the distributor if they still are sealed.

  16. This is the stupidest thing I’ve read this week. Congrats, but it’s still early in the week.

    How about the records themselves? The Polyvinyl chloride process has all sorts of toxic additives and solvents. It also makes the world go round. Without it you can say goodbye to indoor plumbing, electrical cabling in your gear, the floor you’re standing on, and every hose in every orifice that you might save your life in the hospital.

    1. I’m not advocating banning plastic on a global scale, but simply questioning its use in clearly wasteful circumstances, especially when alternative options could be explored.

      And yes, seeing as PVC has a strong environment impact, perhaps alternative materials could be investigated. We’re living in different times to the height of vinyl in the 70s, and are more advanced in the area of materials technology. If its use is on the rise, now would be a good time to look at viable alternatives.