UK’s first carbon neutral pressing plant, Seabass Vinyl, officially certified

A record pressing plant in Scotland has become UK’s first to be officially certified as carbon neutral. 

Seabass Vinyl, which operates on the Macmerry Industrial Estate in Tranent, East Lothian, was accredited by Carbon Neural Britain earlier this week. The company, which offers complete packaging and artwork, test pressings, stamper discs, and mastering services, alongside standard pressing runs, launched in 2023 and is helmed by Dominique and Dave Harvey. 

The firm has ambitions to become the most environmentally-friendly pressing plant in the world. Among other things, it is now producing its own energy on-site and using a Bio Vinyl product made from cooking oil by the Dutch business, Plastchem. The process can bring the carbon footprint of pressings down by 90% compared with standard PVC. Recycled off-cuts, left over from runs of other records, are also utilised.

“Being officially carbon neutral-certified is a major milestone for us,” Dominique told RA. “We’re the first pressing plant in the UK to achieve this and, we think, in the world. It’s important for us and incredibly important for our customers that we minimise our environmental impact while manufacturing records of the highest quality.” 

In November, the Vinyl Record Manufacturer’s Association and the Vinyl Alliance published a report on the sector’s carbon footprint. It found a 140g record produced around 1kg of CO2e, around the same as a pint of cow’s milk. 

However, this doesn’t take into account distribution, which can add significantly more emissions. While acknowledging the impact, the organisations behind the research also pointed to the lifespan of vinyl, which degrades very slowly and rarely winds up in landfill, with records often still playable after generations providing they have been cared for correctly.

Unsurprisingly, demand for more environmentally-friendly vinyl solutions is on the rise. A 2024 study by the UK’s largest physical music production broker, Key Production, found that 77% of music fans would pay more for wax that didn’t cost the Earth. 

Pressing plants are responding to this, including the Netherlands-based Green Vinyl, which has previously teamed up with the Needs label on a compilation produced using ecologically-friendly technologies.