How Deal’s Evolution Music could be about to change the world by making vinyl sustainable

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“We knew we couldn’t keep putting out records on toxic plastic”

— Marc Carey

In the unassuming seaside town of Deal, something revolutionary is happening - quietly, creatively and with deep-rooted purpose. Evolution Music Ltd, an enterprise born from a passion for music and the planet, is leading a green revolution in one of the most unexpectedly toxic corners of the music industry: vinyl records.

Founded in 2018 by Marc Carey, Adrian Clarke and a collective of likeminded creatives, Evolution Music has developed Evovinyl, a bioplastic alternative to traditional PVC records. Not only is Evovinyl fully compostable and far more environmentally friendly but it also works with existing pressing machinery - a breakthrough that could accelerate sustainable vinyl production industry-wide.

The seeds of Evolution Music were planted not in a lab or boardroom but in the principles of permaculture - a design system rooted in earth care, people care and fair shares. Marc Carey, whose background spans DJing, green construction and radio, brought these values into his earlier projects Deal Radio - an online station inspired by the ethos of Soho Radio - and Roulette Media, a label designed to amplify independent voices without compromising ethical principles.

“We were looking at it all and we’re doing the people, the fair shares and the equitable bit, but the planet bit was a bit sh*t,” says Marc. “Because touring, streaming, merch, physical media, PVC, everything we were doing was impacting the planet.

“So we started looking at the big offenders. And of course PVC in vinyl manufacturing, there was a big offender, and the vinyl market was on the up.”

That triggered the Roulette Earth Care Project, bringing in sustainability consultant Steve Charter and setting the team on a five-year journey of research, trial, error and eventual breakthrough.

“We knew we couldn’t keep putting out records on toxic plastic,” Carey says. “So we set out to build something better - not just a product but a system."

A Green vinyl breakthrough

Traditional vinyl records are made from PVC - polyvinyl chloride - a plastic with well-documented environmental and health risks, from toxic manufacturing processes to the inability to biodegrade. Evolution’s Evovinyl compound replaces PVC with a proprietary bioplastic that, while maintaining the beloved sound and feel of vinyl, offers a dramatically improved environmental profile.

The real win? No new infrastructure required. Evovinyl can be pressed using the same machines used for PVC, with minor adjustments and a single machine flush to avoid cross-contamination.

Early trials at pressing plants have shown energy savings of about 15%, thanks to lower heating and cooling requirements, making the compound not just greener but also more economical.

Moreover, the process is almost zero-waste. Trimmings and leftover material can be reprocessed into new records without degrading quality - a significant step toward circular manufacturing in an industry that’s anything but.

Evolution’s journey hasn’t been smooth. From Brexit supply-chain chaos to pandemic-era shipping disasters (one test batch of materials ended up scattered across five locations in Europe), the team have relied heavily on grit, goodwill and grassroots investment.

“We’ve bootstrapped from day one,” says Carey. “Our investors have been friends, family, people who believed in the mission. We’ve had some grant support, but a lot of this has been built with sweat equity.”

That mission has drawn high-profile collaborators. Evolution has worked with pressing giants like GZ Media, Deepgrooves, Vinyl Factory and Viryl Tech, as well as artists such as REM’s Michael Stipe. Crucially, it has also partnered with sustainability champions such as Music Declares Emergency and EarthPercent, co-founded by Brian Eno.

The industry’s response? “Honestly, we were surprised,” Carey admits. “‘We want this. ‘We’ve gotta have it. When can we get it?’. Which we weren’t expecting.

While the founding members keep the chemistry behind the compound a secret - one that no doubt many music industry bods would want to know - they will be officially launching it in September.

With Evovinyl’s formal launch date set, Evolution Music is expanding. A new pressing plant in Brighton is under way, co-founded with industry heavyweights including Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) and DJs Gordon Kay and Timo Garcia. The goal is to create a less toxic, more efficient environment for vinyl production, from raw material to finished product.

And for a generation of music-lovers who want their passion to align with their values, Evovinyl may just be the groove they’ve been waiting for.

INFO: evolution-music.co.uk