In a fairly major move, Warner Music Group have announced that future CD and DVD releases put out by the organisation will be more eco-friendly. From March the label will “ecologically-enhanced paper packaging” for new releases. This is a step in the opposite direction to Universal, who recently began using “Super Jewel cases” for CDs, which use more plastic and are therefore less environmentally sound.

This is actually one of many initiatives Warner have recently put into practice in order to be more environmentally friendly. Others include reducing paper usage, stepping up recycling activity and rejecting paper products from regions where the destruction of trees is proving particularly harmful. Also, the company’s recent Grammy party was made carbon neutral.

Commenting on the eco-initiatives, Dr Allen Hershkowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a partner in Warner’s eco-friendly projects, told reporters, “By committing to protect the south eastern forests that comprise the Cumberland Plateau BioGem from being cut down to make disposable paper products, and by committing to use post-consumer recycled paper instead, Warner Music and WEA are leading the charge to stop global warming and to preserve the cultural and ecological home of country music, the region that literally gave birth to rock and roll”.

WEA CEO John Esposito added, “Environmentally responsible behaviour is good for corporate America: it’s smart ecology and smart economics. There is no downside to being friendly to the planet”.