When we all think about record recycling we think of: Buying some old, unloved records from a garage sale or second-hand shop, and lovingly using our Record Cleaner to bring them back to life.

Extending the life of an old record is very rewarding, and the bonus is you can play it. A well cared for record has a very long life. It’s important that we do all we can to ensure that longevity….non-harmful cleaning products for the record and the environment are recommended. If you can use non-alcohol based products, so much the better. Using a pristine inner sleeve rather than using the older contaminated one is a must. We firmly believe if we can extend the life of records then it will help to keep it out of landfill.
What if the record/sleeve are too far gone?
Inner and outer sleeves- when they have reached the end of their life then recycle those into a Soft Plastic Recycling center. Most are within a 20km range. *You may need to check that all materials are suitable.

Cardboard Sleeves- These are a great resource for kids craft. Some suggestions: Bookmarks, Christmas decorations, Greeting cards, A4 pad holder, etc….

What can I do with an unplayable 33/45 record?
Unfortunately, most of those are sent to landfills and it is an industry challenge. Luckily one company in NZ is leading the charge in Auckland: Holiday Records (NZ’s premium record pressing plant). This is very much a part of the sustainability ethos they have. Other initiatives including a closed loop water cooling system that 100% recycling of water in the cooling cycle of the pressing process.

But the process we are most interested in is The Record Recycling Program. They have a very cool collab with Marley NZ to take unusable LP records and recycle them into PVC piping. The first step of the process is to punch out the center label, the material is then ground into a PVC granulate and passed onto Marley for recycling.

Fantastic initiative and well worth checking out. Read more about their Sustainability program.

All the Best,

David