Environmentally-friendly vinyl pressing plant teams up with Needs label for new compilation

Not-for-profit UK label Needs has partnered with environmentally friendly pressing plant Green Vinyl for its next release, which is due out next month.

‘NEEDS009’ arrives in the wake of the label almost deciding to stop releasing vinyl altogether due to environmental concerns around the energy required to make it, as well as the non-biodegradable status of most vinyl records.

After consulting the Netherlands-based Green Vinyl, which uses an injection moulding process that requires less power and also offers a wider frequency spectrum than traditional vinyl (PVC) records, Needs pressed forward with plans for this latest record. All of the records coming out of the plant are also fully recyclable, and ‘NEEDS009’ will also come without paper labels.

Saoirse, Reptant, Sansibar, Pugilist, Hassan Abou Alam and LUXE all contribute one track each to the release, which you can preview below in the form of Saoirse’s track, ‘Rotational Speed’, and LUXE’s contribution, ‘Flex’.

“Hopefully through this release we can raise awareness about this revolutionary new technology and inspire others to think about the way they produce vinyl,” Needs said of its plans for this particular release, which is out on 24th September.

For more on vinyl’s impact on the environment, read DJ Mag’s feature on whether the format can ever be environmentally-friendly, originally published in January 2020, here.