Los Angeles — The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) said Thursday that “green” efforts among home-video studios have generated an 11 percent carbon footprint reduction in production of DVDs across all studios between 2006 and mid-2008, resulting in a savings of 130,000 tons of CO2.
The finding was reported during a Webinar conducted jointly by the DEG and TWICE sister publications Video Business and Content Agenda.
“The most important takeaway is that working under the guise of the DEG, the industry came together as one for this initiative,” said DEG chairman Bob Chapek, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment president, one the events panelists. “They collaborated in a productive and effective fashion. Included in this process were our industry partners — the retail and replicator communities — who are integral to helping us all make a difference. Working as one, we were able to accomplish so much more than if each of our companies had gone down this road individually.”
Other participants in the Webinar included: Larry Wilk, worldwide operations VP, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment; DEG operations committee vice chairman Dan Miron, executive VP, worldwide supply-chain management, Warner Home Video; Replication & Retail Execution Task Force chairman Mike MacDonald, executive director, supply-chain operations, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; and Logistics/Distribution Task Force chairman Mark Pierson, director, supply chain/logistics, Paramount Home Entertainment.
Wilk, who is the DEG’s “green ambassador,” listed the group’s five Green Task Forces including: Metrics, Replication, Packaging, Logistics/Distribution and Retail Execution. The five groups are represented by DEG members from all studios.
The first steps were to establish a carbon footprint baseline for the industry and set measurement boundaries, which were broadly defined to ensure that they provide a true indication of the industry’s environmental impact, Wilk said.
Measures taken included switching to lighter weight DVD packaging wrap paper, going from 100 pounds to 80 pounds, using a lighter Amaray case (from 83 grams to 53 grams), and reducing o-sleeves and inserts. In addition, Blu-ray Disc packaging was designed to be 30 percent smaller than a standard DVD package.
The Green Task Forces efforts recently expanded to include DEG Europe and DEG Japan.
Moving forward, the Green Task Forces will focus on sustainability, cost reduction and further carbon-footprint reduction. Each additional 5 percent reduction above the 2008 baseline would generate a total industry reduction of 25,000 tons of CO2 per year, according to the DEG.
