Should I choose a matt or a gloss laminate to finish my CD/DVD packaging?

Many clients choose to have a lamination applied to their card CD & DVD packaging, producing a matt or gloss effect and sealing the print in order to avoid ‘cracking.’ As the picture above demonstrates, the laminate produces a professional and attractive finish but the colour will vary between matt laminated and gloss laminated packages.

Why apply a laminate to CD or DVD packaging?

Matt or gloss lamination is the best way to prevent the print on your packaging from cracking along the fold lines. The added benefit is that a matt or gloss effect can be created, added to the overall look and feel of the CD or DVD packaging.

How eco-friendly is lamination?

Whilst a laminate adds a professional finish to CD or DVD packaging, unfortunately it means that the card based packaging will not be recyclable and the carbon emissions of the lamination process are also a factor to consider.

If you want your CD or DVD packaging to be recyclable and have a gloss finish then ask us about our specialist paper board stock – we have a number of glossy (eco-friendly) paper stocks which can be used to produce your eco-friendly CD/DVD packaging.

Life Cycle Assessment of wewow’s WowWallet reveals potential for huge carbon savings.

wewow launched the unique WowWallet concept in 2009, meeting customer demands for eco-friendly CD and DVD packaging. Since then, wewow have strived to constantly improve the sustainability of the WowWallet in order to provide their customers with the most environmentally CD/DVD packaging solution possible.

This year wewow commissioned a life-cycle-assessment of the CD and DVD WowWallet designs to ascertain the carbon emissions of the WowWallet and provide customers with a reliable comparison between the plastic CD Jewel Case and DVD Case and the WowWallet.

The findings of the LCA were astounding with a massive 244KG of carbon being saved for every 1,000 CD WowWallets that are used instead of the plastic jewel case. Likewise, it was demonstrated that the DVD case reduced carbon emissions by a whopping 240KG on a run of 1,000 DVDs, when used instead of the DVD case.

The potential impact upon the entertainment and music industries is astonishing; potentially 2803.7KG of CO2e could be saved if 10% of the 115 million CDs sold in the UK annually were packaged in the WowWallet. If the entertainment industry takes heed and packages just 10% of the DVDs sold in the UK annually, the potential carbon savings are as high as 4884KG CO2e.

Therefore it is clear that if the optical media industry is committed to reducing the environmental impact of physical CD and DVD release, there must be a shift away from plastic CD and DVD packaging. In its place card based packaging will provide the appropriate protection and presentation of CDs and DVDs whilst minimizing the impact of disc packaging upon the environment.