With the new album by The Cure announced today for a 1st Nov 2024 release I’ve ordered the 2xLP half speed master version. The description says it is pressed on bio vinyl. Has anybody bought any records on bio vinyl and if so how do they compare with regular vinyl?
Probably sounds the same & then bio-degrades after a couple of plays?
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I have heard of it but as far as I know I do not have any LPs pressed using it in my collection.
There is a German company called optimal Media who advertise producing bio vinyl or bio-pvc and is made from non-fossil fuel sources and claims to produce less than 90% CO2 of coventional produced vinyl in manufacture. I think used cooking oil and other vegetable oils are used.
Its interesting for sure. How it sounds and lasts is key but they claim that it will not degarde or warp and sounds the same as coventional vinyl.
If true that suggests it is a different plastic, not PVC, so not “vinyl” as we know it. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, likely no difference audibly, or could be worse or better re surface noise and re wear, but they should be clear is to what are the differences if there are any. If it is biogegradeable, as opposed to just not oil-derived, then the relative longevity would be good to know.
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As all Cure albums sound bad, I can’t imagine that an audiophile master will sound good.
A waste of money.
There are no problems (as far as anyone knows – yet!) with longevity with bio-vinyl. Just because they’re bio-degradable doesn’t mean they’re going to rot on your shelves. I’ve heard a few records made from bio-vinyl at industry events and they sound fine.
The next big thing will be records made of PET (the stuff big 2-litre bottles of Coke are made from). This has several advantages over PVC in that a) it’s fully recyclable and b) it can be injection moulded, a far less energy-hungry process than the steam presses “conventional” recordeds are created with.
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This just popped up on my Google feed and he talks about the manufacturing process. I’ve got this one on pre-order too 
Away an’ bile yer heid as we would say in the country of my birth 
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Gondwana Records (Matthew Halsall, Chip Wickham, etc) are using bio vinyl for a lot of recent issues.
I’ve not heard any yet, but planning to buy one or two in the near future.
FR, you’ve evidently not heard The Cure’s album Faith - particularly on vinyl. Seventeen seconds sounds pretty great too.
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I took it as FR saying that he just doesn’t like The Cure rather than any observations on the SQ of their albums. And yes I agree, my 1981 vinyl copy of Faith still sounds rather good.
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I think the bio vinyl is PVC made from (according to Google) “used cooking oil or industrial waste gases”. As such the end product is still PVC, the same as a regular vinyl record.
Incidentally I got my first PET record yesterday. Excellent sound quality. I noticed that the record label was printed directly on the plastic.
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No, I don’t like or dislike. But have the bad sound on memory ( bad recording, not music).
I used to listen to some songs when 18 years old.
I liked at that time “ boys don’t cry “ for example.
It is not PVC/Vinyl as previously known as Bio Vinyl is not made with oil/fossil fuel-based products.
Optimal Media is very clear in its material about how the product differs from conventionally produced vinyl. They claim that the new Bio vinyl is not biodegradable.
If it is not PVC it is not “vinyl”, polyvinylchloride, as we know it, but chemically a different substance, however similar its characteristics may be.
The two are made from different processes but the result is vinyl/PVC
“BioVinyl is a sustainable product made from bio-based PVC (polyvinyl chloride). The petroleum previously required for PVC production is replaced here by recycling used cooking oil or industrial waste gases.”
Many years ago I worked for firm in Southampton that made cling film. Yes, i worked for a film company.
The PVC poweder was mixed with a number of " plasticisers" and this made the PVS softer and allowed it to strech.
However, these plasticisers were not pleasent materials and " migrated" into the food the cling film was wrapping. We had to find more eco friendly plasticisers.
This bio vinyl sounds like it jas gone next stage. Finding a eco/bio way to plasticise the PVC in a sustainable way.
But doesn’t PET break down after about a decade and start releasing dioxins? It’s seriously hazardous stuff once it ages out.
PET is not the same product as Bio Vinyl.
I never said it was. @TheKevster said they had heard PET was going to be the next big thing. I was responding that to that comment.