Photo credit: Stas Knop
With vinyl sales soaring, a new US pilot program aims to divert unwanted and damaged records from landfills. Launched by Warner Music Group with independent record stores and Virterras Materials, the initiative invites fans to return any vinyl record to collection points for assessment and potential reuse through September. The program addresses environmental concerns regarding PVC, the fossil-fuel plastic used in records, as US vinyl revenue hit $1 billion in 2025.
The initiative arrives as vinyl continues to grow commercially despite mounting concerns around its environmental impact. Vinyl records are manufactured primarily from PVC, a fossil fuel-derived plastic, placing increased scrutiny on the sustainability of the format as demand rises. According to recent industry data, vinyl revenue in the US surpassed $1 billion in 2025, marking another year of growth for the format.
The new pilot also follows Warner’s earlier recycling experiments. Earlier this year, the company worked alongside GZ Media and Abbey Road Studios on a study showing that unsold records could be recycled and pressed into new commercial-grade vinyl without sacrificing audio quality. That project focused on manufacturing waste and unsold inventory, while the latest initiative shifts attention toward post-consumer waste, namely records that have already made their way into listeners’ collections.
