Innovative British company scores UK first and proves that plastics can be environmentally friendly

Plastics may have been vilified by the public and the media – but the British company that created the world’s first brass music instruments in plastic, has become the first UK music instrument manufacturer to be certified as carbon neutral. 

It is a significant boost for the world’s largest producer of brass instruments manufactured in ABS plastic that has faced the stigma and ‘bad press’ widely associated with plastic – but which has received plaudits for its innovations and for helping increase the number of brass players worldwide. 

Queen’s Award for Enterprise recipient and UK Export Champion Warwick Music Group has received the designation for its full range of brass instruments - produced in colourful recyclable ABS plastic – from the UK's leading sustainability assessor and independent validator, Carbon Footprint.

“Our goal has always been to make the joy of music accessible and fun. We chose to produce in plastic because it offers advantages over conventional methods. Not all plastic is bad plastic – we chose ABS because it is widely and easily recycled, is lightweight, has high tensile strength and scratch resistance. It is also available in a multitude of bright colours – but no matter the colour of the instrument, players and teachers can now be assured that our instruments are also the ‘green’ choice,” said Chris Fower, Director of Creativity and Innovation at Warwick Music Group.

Philip Law, Director General of the British Plastics Federation, which represents the UK plastics industry and is working on a range of sustainability initiatives, congratulated the company on its achievement.

"Warwick Music Group is pioneering innovation and with this verification has demonstrated the superior sustainability credentials of plastic and the very important role it plays in our daily lives. This is a great example of how economically recyclable plastics can be an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional materials,” he said.

Since first going on sale in late 2010, more than half-a-million of Warwick Music Group’s instruments have been sold with pBone becoming the largest-selling trombone worldwide. 
Paul McManus, Chief Executive of the Music Industries Association, the trade body for the UK musical instrument industry, also praised the company for its achievement. 

“Warwick Music Group has rapidly become a world-leading music company through their innovative musical instruments. Their positive impact on young people making music and school music is especially significant. To have become the first UK musical instrument company with certified carbon-neutral instruments is yet another major milestone in their impressive record of achievements,” he said. 

Chris Fower added: “As manufacturers of instruments in plastic, we bear an even greater responsibility because, unlike the makers of traditional brass instruments who cannot readily change the way they manufacture, it is so much easier for us to be sustainable and make greener choices for our planet, by building in that requirement from the outset. 

“We have invested in our manufacturing processes to ensure that environmental considerations are built into our instruments, improved our distribution chain and introduced low-impact packaging. Our instruments provide great advantages but are also the sustainable-choice comparing favourably with traditional instruments that use more energy in their production as well as materials such as zinc where reserves are expected to last for less than two decades and only 30% comes from recycling.”