Studios, Wal-Mart go green with packaging

UPDATE: Changes include printing on partially recycled paper

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 3/27/2007

MARCH 27 | DVD packaging is going green.

Numerous disc suppliers are sprouting environmentally friendly packaging, with seeds for the efforts sown, at least in part, by leading retailer Wal-Mart Stores.

Warner Home Video has switched to producing all of its DVD art on partially recycled paper.

Previously, Warner strictly used virgin paper stock, which includes no recycled material.

Going into effect April 1, the environmentally friendly change spans all of the paper wraps covering Warner’s Amaray cases, as well as inserts inside its DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases. The new material contains 30% post-consumer recycled content, chlorine-free paper.

“We’ve been looking at recycling stock for the past three or four years, but the cost and quality issues were prohibitive,” said Isabelle Renaud, Warner VP of production, worldwide creative services. “The sheets weren’t white enough, and it was expensive. But recycled stock has come a long way.”

With Warner’s new packaging, the annual energy saved will power 404 homes, prevent 43.4 million pounds of greenhouse gases and save 53,169 trees, according to methodology from the Environmental Defense Paper Calculator. Additionally, Warner will conserve more than 19.3 million gallons of water and eliminate enough solid waste to fill 115 garbage trucks.

Wal-Mart, which accounts for roughly half of the DVD sell-through market, has made environment sustainability a core corporate priority and has a goal of reducing packaging of products carried in its stores by 5% by 2013.

“At Wal-Mart’s annual vendor meeting [earlier this year], their main focus was on sustainability,” said Brian Burke, Navarre Distribution services president and attendee at the event. “It is something that they are really pushing their vendors to do. I think they are looking at it as a way to save money and be a good corporate citizen.”

Many of Navarre’s computer software titles are distributed using recycled material, and the company is working to do the same for its DVD releases.

In March, the retail giant held its second annual Sustainable Packaging Exposition for vendors, where it released the initial results of its Packaging Scorecard, which evaluates Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club suppliers on the sustainability of their packaging and offers suggestions for improvement.

Warner’s first title using the recycled paper was March 27 release Happy Feet. Stressing the importance of conservation, the animated film included a PSA about declining fisheries.

The studio has already rolled out conservation campaigns, including its use of 25% recycled content for its retail display liner boards. The studio strictly uses corrugated product vendors that are members of such Earth-friendly organizations as Global Environment Management Initiative and the Nature Conservancy International Leadership Council.

Upcoming green Warner releases include The Fountain on May 15 and The Ultimate Matrix Collection on May 22.

Other examples of suppliers using green DVD packaging include Westlake Entertainment, which is using recyclable plastic for its Amaray cases, and Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment packaging DVDs with recycled materials.

Children of Men, The Good Shepherd, Alpha Dog and Smokin’ Aces represent some of Universal’s initial DVDs packaged with recycled material.

Sony’s May 22 releases Safe and Sound and The Earth Needs You, from PBS Kids environmental series It’s a Big Big World, also will include recycled material within their paper wraps. Additionally, these two Sony releases hold plant seeds inside.

“Sony is also very concerned with having an overall green initiative,” said Suzanne White, VP of marketing. “We want to take part in various activities around that theme [because of consumer interest]. And there is retailer influence as well. These titles are the most recent examples, but the company is looking into other ways to reduce waste.”

Of course, the most complete example of green packaging is Paramount Home Entertainment’s An Inconvenient Truth, released last year. The studio used wholly recyclable, plastic-free casing material, with inks and codings formulated so as not to disperse volatile chemicals into the atmosphere.

Since An Inconvenient Truth, Paramount has been researching other packaging alternatives. The studio hopes to increase the amount of recycled material it uses in DVD inserts and is working to pull out unnecessary packaging material.

“We’re looking at how we can use less. It’s really an untapped opportunity,” said Michele Bell, VP, creative director for PHE. “Using less automatically creates less waste and helps the environment.”