Vinyl Seeks Eco-Friendly Groove as Album Sales Soar (Corrected)

Vinyl may be the sweetest-sounding format to many audiophiles, but it can be particularly nasty from an environmental standpoint.

Short for polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, vinyl is made in part from fossil fuels like natural gas. The record albums themselves can also contain other toxic additives, such as carbon black and heavy metals.

So a growing number of companies are experimenting with materials and production methods aiming to minimize the environmental footprint of vinyl records.

“More and more people are experimenting with different vinyl compounds,” said Rob Brown, CEO of Viryl Technologies, a Toronto-based maker of record-pressing equipment. ...