Great Lakes Media Technology Blog

Eco-Friendly Disc Not So Friendly

You can turn on your television, tune in to the radio, or even open up your web browser and you are bound to see something about going "green." We are all in the midst of a "green" generation and at Great Lakes Media Technology we've adopted the "ChooseGreen" packaging concept (made with 100% recyclable, 30% post consumer and all soy based inks on custom packaging), which has seen a HUGE increase in demand over the last few years. Anytime energy is saved and resources are conserved, no doubt we are all for it. Researchers are now experimenting to create an eco-friendly disc, although none have been successful.

Currently there are replication companies marketing what they are calling an "eco-friendly" DVD (or flex disc). Flexible because they are 0.6mm thick as opposed to the 1.2mm thickness of a standard DVD, and environmentally friendly because only half of the plastic is needed to manufacture the disc. Unfortunately there are some serious problems with this.

1. Companies are only manufacturing 1 layer (layer 0) of the format, which happens to fall outside of the specifications for all DVD formats. As a licensee of the DVD patent groups - which is extremely important to avoid potential liability - we are disallowed to manufacture non-compliant products.

2. Compatibility with these thin discs are not good. Less than 80% compatibility.

3. The manufacturing process of this disc is no different than the standard manufacturing of a DVD.

As further research is conducted we will continue to keep our eyes open. We are constantly working towards protecting our environment, as well as providing more options to our customers.