Warner Music, GZ Media Partner to Recycle Vinyl Without Sound Compromise

Warner Music partners with GZ Media to show unsold vinyl records can be recycled without compromising sound

May 25, 2026 By Mandy Dalugdug

Warner Music Group and GZ Media have completed a pilot demonstrating that unsold vinyl records can be shredded, reprocessed, and pressed into new commercial-grade records – without compromising the sound quality that artists and fans expect.

The pilot processed approximately 10,000 unsold records sourced across multiple artists, titles, and pressing plants, reflecting the mixed inventory typical across the industry.

The records were shredded and new pressing variants were produced using recycled content ratios ranging from 10% to 100% .

Through blind listening evaluations coordinated with Abbey Road Studios , a panel of seven audio engineers and technical specialists assessed the pressings without knowing which material blends they were hearing.

In a notable finding, the 25% recycled / 75% virgin blend received the highest overall audio quality scores from the listening panel – outperforming even the 100% virgin control pressing.

Across all variants tested, differences in audio quality scores fell within a range of approximately 0.5 points on a ten-point scale, with the top three performing variants within 0.2 points of each other.

> “Vinyl demand is growing, but the industry was never designed to bring unsold records back into production.” Miriam Lessar , Warner Music Group

“Vinyl demand is growing, but the industry was never designed to bring unsold records back into production,” said Miriam Lessar , VP of Global Release Management at WMG .

“Waste is a design problem we have not solved yet.

“This pilot is about doing the real work to understand whether recovered vinyl can meet the audio quality, manufacturing, and environmental standards the format demands under real production conditions.”

> “Vinyl listeners care deeply about sound quality, so the standards for this project were always high.” Miles Showell , Abbey Road Studios

“Vinyl listeners care deeply about sound quality, so the standards for this project were always high,” said Miles Showell , Mastering Engineer at Abbey Road .

“What impressed me was how consistent the pressings were across the different material blends, showing that sustainability and sound quality do not have to be at odds.”

Showell , who cut the lacquer masters for the test record and later produced standardized digital rips of the pressings for the panel to evaluate, added in the project’s full report : “In my opinion, the discs were remarkably consistent, with the level of recycled PVC not making much of a difference to the quality of the end product.”

Alongside the audio testing, the project evaluated the environmental impact of reprocessing unsold vinyl.

An independent environmental analysis conducted with support from ClimatePartner found that reintroducing obsolete records into production reduced modeled carbon emissions by approximately 10.6% compared with a scenario in which the same records were disposed of and new records were pressed entirely from virgin material.

The reduction was driven primarily by lower demand for virgin PVC , the compound used in standard vinyl pressing – which, according to the report, accounts for 39% of cradle-to-gate emissions in average European vinyl record production.

Those savings were partially offset by emissions from the additional steps the recycling process requires – transport, warehousing, sorting, and shredding.

“Sustainability and quality must go hand in hand,” said Vladimír Víšek , Head of Sustainability at GZ .

> “For more sustainable products to be adopted across the industry, it’s important they deliver the same level of quality and performance as standard products.” Vladimír Víšek , GZ Media

“For more sustainable products to be adopted across the industry, it’s important they deliver the same level of quality and performance as standard products.

“We hope this project provides a foundation the industry can continue to build on as it explores more resource-efficient pathways for vinyl production.”

From a production standpoint, the pilot found that lower inclusion rates – 10% and 25% recycled content – integrated smoothly into standard pressing workflows, while higher rates of 50% and 100% introduced greater variability in material handling and required increased operator oversight.

The report noted that GZ already operates ISCC PLUS mass balance systems for certain materials, suggesting that the infrastructure to scale a blended approach at the plant level is already in place.

“Innovation doesn’t always mean creating something new; sometimes it means evolving a classic without losing what made it special in the first place,” said Madeleine Smith , Sr. Director ESG at WMG .

“Developed in close partnership with Miriam [Lessar] and WMG’s physical audio team, we are proving that recovered material streams can drive a more responsible future for physical formats, without sacrificing the listening experience artists and fans love.”

The pilot arrives as vinyl records continue their sustained global resurgence.

According to the IFPI ‘s Global Music Report 2026 , global physical music revenues reached USD $5.3 billion in 2025, with vinyl specifically growing 13.7% YoY – the format’s 19th consecutive year of growth .

In the United States, vinyl revenues grew 9.3% YoY to $1.04 billion in 2025, according to the RIAA , with unit sales rising 7.9% YoY to 46.8 million – also the 19th consecutive year of growth for the format in the US market.

That growth has put increasing focus on the environmental footprint of vinyl manufacturing. Vinyl records are made from PVC, a polymer derived primarily from fossil fuel-based feedstocks.

WMG has previously engaged with the issue. Its inaugural ESG report, published in early 2022 , noted that the company had avoided using 46 tons of virgin plastic by producing 100% recycled vinyl records for artists including Coldplay , Ed Sheeran , Gorillaz , Biffy Clyro , and Foals .

GZ Media , which says it is the “world’s largest producer of vinyl records,” is headquartered in Loděnice in the Czech Republic and has been pressing records since 1951 . The company says it has pressed over 800 million records to date. Music Business Worldwide

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_Originally reported by [Music Business Worldwide](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/warner-music-partners-with-gz-media-to-show-unsold-vinyl-records-can-be-recycled-without-compromising-sound/)._