Myriad partner with Revive Innovations to back CD recycling scheme in Bristol
With more than 45,000 kilograms of CDs becoming obsolete every month, Myriad has partnered with Revive Innovations to support the growth of RE-CD as a solution to the global issue of recycling optical discs. The RE-CD process, developed by Bristol-based designer & entrepreneur Kieran Devlin, sees waste optical discs reprocessed into a unique new composite material without the need for epoxy or resin. This means that the new material is made from 100% post-consumer waste.
Since the turn of the century, CDs have been uprooted as the industry standard of portable media. Having been stung by the rise of file sharing, MP3 players and online music in the early 2000s, CD sales nearly halved between 2000 and 2007, just in time for the onset of smartphones and music streaming services to put the final nail in the coffin. However, with more than 200 billion optical discs manufactured and distributed worldwide, these discs are now becoming obsolete. Around 30 million discs per month are thrown away, with only a very small portion getting recycled.
Source: RIAA
With only a handful of recycling centres across the UK with the ability to process optical discs, there is a general misconception that throwing CDs and DVDs in the bin is the most viable option. However, it is estimated to take over 1 million years for a CD to completely decompose in landfill.
Step in Revive Innovations. Through experimental design, Kieran Devlin developed a reprocessing method whilst in his final year of University. The process uses minimal energy and involves no added materials. As RE-CD material is a re-constitution of the original product, it retains the original character, art, nostalgia and history of the CDs and carries it over into Revive’s products.
RE-CD is hard-wearing, impact and temperature resistant, smooth finishing and each piece has its own unique, bespoke aesthetic. Per metre squared of the solid 40mm RE-CD, Revive Innovations repurpose up to 3000 CDs. To date, the company has saved over 47,000 CDs from potentially harmful disposal.
While RE-CD represents a clear recycling innovation, Myriad also values the material’s ability to be remoulded and remade after use. This separates Revive Innovations from other eco-materials in the architecture industry who add epoxies and resins which prevent the material from being remoulded. By developing a return infrastructure, Revive Innovations can enable the re-fabrication of the product, closing the loop again and again.
