Photo by Zacharie Mantha-Ware
Audio By Carbonatix
The vinyl industry has experienced a historic boom in the last few years, with sales breaking $1 billion for the first time since 1983. Nationwide initiatives like Record Store Day, younger generations’ fascination with physical media, and growing digital fatigue have created fertile ground for an industry that once survived thanks to hardcore, punk, and cult rock records to flourish once again with pop and mainstream releases.
But what happens to all those old records with deep scratches, dents, or warping that make them unplayable? Do you throw them away? Turn them into hipster-style home décor? Or is there a way to actually recycle them?
Warner Music Group and Miami’s Sweat Records are hoping to answer that question.
The Little Haiti record store has been selected as one of only 11 independent record stores across the United States to participate in a new vinyl take-back pilot program launched by Warner Music Group. The initiative invites music fans to bring in damaged or unplayable records — regardless of artist, label, or condition — so they can be collected, studied, and potentially recycled instead of ending up in a landfill.
The records collected during the pilot will be consolidated by recovery partner Virterras Materials, which will evaluate how the material can be recovered and reused. The project is also designed to gather data on participation, transportation, processing, and the economic feasibility of creating a larger-scale recycling infrastructure for vinyl records.
The initiative builds on research released earlier this year by Warner Music Group, GZ Media, and Abbey Road Studios, which found that recycled vinyl can be reprocessed into new commercial-grade records without compromising sound quality while also reducing the carbon footprint of manufacturing.
“Independent record stores have long served as gathering places for music fans and stewards of music culture,” said Madeleine Smith, Senior Director of ESG at Warner Music Group, in a press announcement. “The pilot brings together retailers, recovery partners, and music fans to explore an important question: what would it take to create practical pathways for recovering unplayable or damaged vinyl records? It’s a vital first step in understanding what’s possible.”
For Sweat Records founder Lolo Reskin, the program formalizes something the store has been thinking about for years.
“Over the years we have repurposed old, beat-up LPs into bowls, décor, soundproofing, and even the record cloud lamps hanging in the store, but of course many were beyond use and had to be trashed,” Reskin tells New Times. “It’s great to know definitively that using recycled vinyl doesn’t affect the sound quality of new records, so we’re happy to help see how a collection box like this can keep records from ending up in a landfill.”
The store announced the program on social media this week, encouraging customers to drop off any damaged or unplayable records in the collection box provided by Warner Music Group. Records in good condition are still welcome for purchase or trade, but the new initiative gives collectors a sustainable option for albums that have reached the end of their playable life.
The pilot runs through September and includes participating stores in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Austin, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Miami. If successful, the findings could help shape the future of vinyl recycling and provide the music industry with a blueprint for keeping thousands of unusable records out of landfills.
