CD and DVD Packaging: How to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Your Media Packaging

In the past few years, “going green” has become very important for almost every type of business. The CD and DVD packaging industry have been no different. In fact, promoting environmentally friendly products has become a major marketing focus. So what are your options if you want to package your media and reduce your carbon footprint at the same time?

Your first option is to limit the amount of plastic in the packaging that you use for your CD or DVD. Packaging has always focussed on the use of plastics mainly because plastics are cheap and easy to use. The industry standard for an audio CD is still the jewel case which is made of polystyrene. The industry standard for the DVD is the Amaray DVD case which is made of polypropylene and the new box for the Blu-ray will also be made of this material. Keeping the sizes and styles of alternative packaging similar to the industry standards has been very important when developing a solution which consumers would recognise and accept. The Digipak is a fantastic alternative to the jewel case and the DVD case. It is made mostly of thick printed card and only includes plastic trays as the holders for the CD or DVD. The digipak can hold several discs by increasing the number of panels and it can also hold booklets and small promotional items. It looks expensive and impressive because of the large amount of space available for graphic display.

Another option is to eliminate the plastic altogether and use packaging made entirely out of card. In these types of packaging, the CD or DVD is held in die-cut slots or paper holders. You can keep it very simple and use a printed card wallet or you try something special like the Disc Box Slider. A new and ingenious product available is the Jakebox which holds the media in a patented paper “claw”. In addition, you can request that the card used for the creation of the packaging is recycled. Paper types such as Resa offset are made of 100% post consumer recycled fibres instead of virgin fibres. If you like the idea of a tray, there is a product called the Paperfoam tray which is made of starch and cellulose. It can be used in the place of plastic trays in products such as the digipak. This product has already been used in music releases for artists such as Keane and Motley Crue.

A third option, which can be used in combination with the above choices, is to request the usage of soy or vegetable based inks in the printing process. Not many manufacturers offer this at the moment but it is increasing in popularity.

Keep in mind that there are significant additional costs to the production of environmentally friendly packaging. In quantities around 1000 units, the costs for recycled paper and vegetable based inks can triple the standard pricing. If your budget can handle this not only will you feel good about the low environmental impact; you will also have distinct packaging that will gather more attention from your prospects.