Environmentally friendly DVDs enter U.S market

PHYSICAL: EcoDisc to be used for magazine, newspaper giveaways

By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 5/7/2009

MAY 7 | PHYSICAL: EcoDisc Technology released environmentally friendly DVD discs into the North American market today through a deal with U-Tech, a company that produces discs for giveaways in magazines and newspapers in the U.S.

EcoDiscs use 50% less polycarbonate, take 50% less energy to produce and release 52% less carbon dioxide emissions than standard DVDs, according to the company.

Manufacturers can swap DVD5 discs for EcoDiscs without having to change the source material, editing, authoring or packing process, the company said. EcoDiscs can be recycled because they don’t use toxic bonder, used to bind two sides of a standard disc together.

EcoDiscs, which are thinner and lighter than standard DVDs, have mostly been viewed by the industry as something to be used in promotions rather than a replacement for standard discs.

EcoDisc launched in Europe in 2007 and was first used by the London-based Daily Mail in its Sunday newspaper.

Last month, EcoDisc won a battle in European courts against the DVD Forum, which sought to stop its licensees from using the discs.