Packaging Reductions Lowering Carbon Footprint of DVDs

Reductions made to the DVD packaging used by some of the biggest DVD distributors have resulted in a 20 per cent weight loss, which is lowering the packaging’s associated carbon footprint. 

The globally dominant DVD film and television series distributor is Warner Home Video, all of whose new releases now come in cases constructed using 80 per cent of the plastic previously used, in one way or another.  While some of these cases use a thinner plastic, others use the same thickness, but feature cut-out areas that equate to the same effective reduction.

Reduced Plastic Casing

Environmental concerns were first and foremost for Warner, according to the organisation itself.  Overall, its new packaging policy is set to slash its emissions of carbon dioxide by almost one third.  There are also undoubted economic benefits attached to reduced plastic casing too, since the manufacturing process is cheaper, while lower-weight DVD are also cheaper to ship.

Highlighting how, then, from a financial point of view, the move to lighter packaging was “beneficial to the company’s bottom line”, environmental initiatives vice president at Warner, Shelley Billik, also stressed how it was “important in the preservation of natural resources.”

DVD Carbon Emissions

Warner aside, similar environmentally-themed packaging programmes are also underway at other studios too.  One of these is Sony Pictures Entertainment, which in May 2009 released the first of its 20 per cent plastic-reduced cases.  Sony, together with Disney and 20th Century Fox, spearheaded the introduction into the marketplace of Blue-ray, films made in which are produced in reduced-size cases.  It is thought that these cases have, themselves, reduced DVD carbon emissions by 30 per cent.

While the global economic situation has incentivised DVD distributors to seek ways of cutting costs, retail group Wal-Mart has long been insisting that sellers take steps to cut down on packaging and lower CO2 emissions.

Information provided by the Digital Entertainment Group highlights how the overall DVD carbon footprint moved from 1.1 pounds down to 0.98 pounds between 2006 and 2008 inclusive.  This includes all carbon emissions linked to the making, packaging and distribution of the DVDs.