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Video-8 pushes Australia’s first environmentally friendly DVD

Press release from Video-8

In a move set to revolutionise the duplication and replication industries Video-8 today announced a major push of its environmentally friendly DVD media EcoDisc.

Video-8 MD Gareth Collins said, “2010 was a very good year for Video-8 across all aspects of our business and as a result the directors decided to invest further in new products and services. One of the major investments was in the area of DVD duplication and replication where we have already enjoyed considerable success. The task we set ourselves was how to further capitalise on our success in DVD duplication at a comparable cost to our customers but with a much lower impact on the environment – that’s where EcoDisc came in.”

The normal DVD has become the standard medium for data storage in the world’s consumer markets. Relying on its favourable cost/capacity ratio, the standard DVD has remained largely unchanged since its invention in 1993.

Collins continued, “While the need for cutting oil dependency, minimising energy consumption and reducing CO2 emissions has reached global consensus, the standard DVD in its rigid format has very little to offer to meet these goals. On the contrary, it depends on a non-biodegradable, toxic resin to bond the two halves a DVD is constructed from. EcoDisc is completely different in that it has been engineered with its impact on the environment in mind. Using today’s materials and technological processes, the EcoDisc has all the advantages of a standard DVD with the same capacity, playability, optical and electrical properties. The EcoDisc is not only thinner, lighter and more flexible than a standard DVD, it is also entirely free of toxic bonder.”

Collins made the decision to take on EcoDisc late in 2010 and the results have been startling.

He added, “Our customers love the media, how it’s been developed and the fact that it’s so much better for the environment is also a benefit everyone can understand and truly appreciate.”

With EcoDisc the difference becomes clear when you look at the EcoDisc’s carbon footprint. In comparison to the standard DVD the EcoDisc consists of 50% less polycarbonate, an oil derivative used as the main material to form the disc. By halving the amount of raw material, the manufacturing of the EcoDisc also needs 50% less energy in production. Taking all influencing factors into account, using EcoDisc instead of standard DVDs effectively reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 52%.

Collins continued, “It’s not just the carbon footprint that is smaller. The thinner EcoDisc reduces the transport volume from factory to the consumer and thereby reducing freight cost and conserving fuel. The EcoDisc increases warehouse storage capacity and its lighter weight saves on postage. Its flexibility guarantees stronger durability when it is being handled, packaged or mailed to consumers and ultimately, when it comes to the end of its life cycle, the EcoDisc can be easily recycled thanks to the absence of any toxic bonder.”

The EcoDisc was invented in 2006 and since manufacturing started in Europe during the summer of 2007, tens of millions of EcoDisc DVDs have been produced and distributed worldwide.

Gareth Collins concluded, “The EcoDisc offers our customers a commercially viable and more eco-friendly alternative to the standard DVD and it already has a successful track record with major magazine and newspaper publishers, large consumer goods manufacturers, governments and publishers of movie, educational and promotional content. We expect to see its success continue to grow in Australia throughout 2011 and beyond."