BIS is switching to "ecopak" recyclable packaging

[Mirror Image]

Software CDs have been sent in cardboard packaging for ages and I cannot remember a single occasion of getting a disc that was damaged during shipment.

The ecopak simply sounds like a single-disc version of the cardboard clamshell packaging that has been the rule for bargain sets for many years. I welcome the demise of the repulsive "jewel-case" which was designed to take up a lot of space and make an expensive CD seem important.

I have zero problems with jewel cases and I think calling them 'repulsive' is a bit over the top. It's not like you're having to stare at a hideous circus freak. It's a piece of plastic for crying out loud.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

A thought here:  will the spines be narrower--harder to read than vs. ones in plastic?  Maybe 'tilt' easily (think like a book)?  Would be nice if there was a way to laminate the covers, etc., so that they would hold up better yet, maybe in the presence of water, be able to biodegrade relatively easily?  Trying to figure out how to get the best of both worlds.....

[greg]

It seems like ALL of the newer CDs that I've ordered, from several different rock/metal labels use this type of packaging... I'm assuming it's ecopack or something similar.

Regardless, they're aesthetically much more appealing, though the downside is that you have to be extra gentle with them as they are more likely to show wear and tear, especially around the corners. I decided I'd use a certain type of eco-packaging for my own albums when they are complete just because it looks better and feels better to the touch than albums with jewel cases.

[Jo498]

Jewel cases are ugly and prone to break but as Mirror Image points out they can be replaced easily. If a digipak gets scoffed around the edges, it is merely an aesthetic problem. But if the central "rosette" breaks, the disk will not remain in place and the digipak becomes useless.

[Omicron9]

Attached (I hope) are examples of each, as folks seem to be confused. 

DIGIPAK = part cardboard/part plastic.  Has the plastic hub-type disk holder.

ECOPAK = no plastic.  Similar to the old LP-style sleeves where the disk slides into the sleeve.   This is the type to which BIS is moving.

[Biffo]

Attached (I hope) are examples of each, as folks seem to be confused. 

DIGIPAK = part cardboard/part plastic.  Has the plastic hub-type disk holder.

ECOPAK = no plastic.  Similar to the old LP-style sleeves where the disk slides into the sleeve.   This is the type to which BIS is moving.

My main problem with ECOPAK and similar packaging is that the disc is often a very tight fit and can be difficult to get out. The same applies to the cardboard sleeves in some the editions where the sleeve is a miniature reproduction of the original LP cover.

[Jo498]

Yes, there are "ecopak" style packages that made it almost impossible to get the disc out without scratching it. The worst ever in my experience were the "brown books" from the late 1990s? (or slightly later) Rubinstein edition. (Their additional problem was dark print on brown background, so spines were very hard to read.)
And there were others that had almost the opposite problem, i.e. discs sliding out too easily, especially after some time of wear. This could occur with some of the "cheapo" cardboard sleeves in economic boxes but also with the "book style" packaging (for me among the most appealing but not the most durable) of the CBS Masterworks heritage (or whatever the name was) original cover edition.

[greg]

Attached (I hope) are examples of each, as folks seem to be confused. 

DIGIPAK = part cardboard/part plastic.  Has the plastic hub-type disk holder.

ECOPAK = no plastic.  Similar to the old LP-style sleeves where the disk slides into the sleeve.   This is the type to which BIS is moving.

Thanks!

Digipack is exactly what I've been seeing... even heard the term before but didn't know what it was. And it's what I will use for my own music, now that I know the term.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Hey all... if you haven't seen pix of the new pack, there are some that come with my post on it... along with my take on the idea.

Newsish items:


Record Label BIS Goes Green (You Had Me at "Turtles")

[Brian]

Hey all... if you haven't seen pix of the new pack, there are some that come with my post on it... along with my take on the idea.

Newsish items:


Record Label BIS Goes Green (You Had Me at "Turtles")

Thank you for posting those pictures! It also looks like the useless plastic shrink wrap will be gone? I assume that's why there is a peel-off sticker holding in the booklet/CD...

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I have zero problems with jewel cases and I think calling them 'repulsive' is a bit over the top. It's not like you're having to stare at a hideous circus freak. It's a piece of plastic for crying out loud.

I find them genuinely repulsive. Not so much an individual one, but having to look at an entire bookcase crammed with cheap plastic boxes. I rip all of my CDs to disk partly to avoiding having that in my home (I only have attractive deluxe box sets on my shelves now).

[Brian]

(I only have attractive deluxe box sets on my shelves now)

That hot pink Arthur Rubinstein box is so huge I genuinely consider it an accent color in its room's color scheme. (...but nothing else matches it)

Wish I could go buy a whole ton of "ecopaks" to replace all my old plastic cases, but then you lose the ability to have a front/back cover and have to use a label printer or a Sharpie to write on the outside what album is within.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Hey all... if you haven't seen pix of the new pack, there are some that come with my post on it... along with my take on the idea.

Newsish items:


Record Label BIS Goes Green (You Had Me at "Turtles")

The associated advertising copy is over the top, but von Bahr is doing the right thing. We have to move away from plastic packaging. How often to we find ourselves buying some trivial item encased in a greater mass of plastic than the item itself, when a simple cardboard box would do equally well?

[flyingdutchman]

Well, there's always downloading now, and with eclassical.com all of the BIS SACD releases in surround can be downloaded.  No need for plastic cases, digipaks, or any other case now.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Thank you for posting those pictures! It also looks like the useless plastic shrink wrap will be gone? I assume that's why there is a peel-off sticker holding in the booklet/CD...

It really wouldn't make sense to do all this to "avoid unnecessary plastic waste" only then shrink-wrap the whole thing... so yes, that's my assumption, too.

[greg]

How often to we find ourselves buying some trivial item encased in a greater mass of plastic than the item itself, when a simple cardboard box would do equally well?

The Japanese government could use this memo for the little stuff. Outlawing packaging... for example, single pieces of fruit. 

Well, there's always downloading now, and with eclassical.com all of the BIS SACD releases in surround can be downloaded.  No need for plastic cases, digipaks, or any other case now.

I used to download and built a digital collection.
But later once i got more space and money i found that CDs are a million times more inspiring to look at on the shelf and picking it up and playing them without having to use some type of device that is connected to the internet is very satisfying. So going I've been going back to CDs for favorite music that i could endlessly relisten to.

[Omicron9]

The pics of the new packaging look great in my opinion.  I'd expect they'd retain the shrink wrap, as doing without will introduce problems in shipping and storage.

-09

[SurprisedByBeauty]

The pics of the new packaging look great in my opinion.  I'd expect they'd retain the shrink wrap, as doing without will introduce problems in shipping and storage.

-09

Good point about storage. But I suppose if they did actually use any, they could come up with some bio-degradable stuff for it? Supermarkets here, which feel the need to single-package everything (mostly because you can hide higher prices for produce by pre-packaged unit-priced veggies), are going that direction. If they didn't, they might risk a minor backfiring of the whole shpiel.

[Kontrapunctus]

My new Yevgeny Subdin late Beethoven sonatas came in a ecopak...no complaints!

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

The pics of the new packaging look great in my opinion.  I'd expect they'd retain the shrink wrap, as doing without will introduce problems in shipping and storage.

-09

I don't see why that would be necessary. Books don't generally get shrink wrap. I think most retail packaging choices are driven by shoplifting concerns. For something sent through the mail I would think shrink wrap would be superfluous.