CDSA, the Content Delivery and Storage Association, announces the launch of a new, industry leading, plastic packaging standard for polypropylene DVD cases.

With the formation of the Plastic Standards Packaging Committee (PSPC), this organization has taken a proactive approach to assure the long-term safety of polypropylene optical media packaging from contamination by potentially harmful substances. The PSPC was chartered to develop a standard to assure the safety of this type of packaging for all stakeholders: content owners, disc replicators and consumers.

Initial studies of DVD packaging were sanctioned by the CDSA and conducted by Milliken Chemical Company. Analyses of packages purchased at retail confirmed that in some cases several potentially harmful elements had been introduced to the pure resin substrate, such as antimony, cadmium, chromium, and lead. A Standard was considered necessary to set a maximum permissible level of these unwanted elements to assure the safety of consumers, workers in the packaging industry, and the environment.

Pure polypropylene is an excellent and widely used material for consumer packaging as it is inherently safe and completely recyclable, both desirable attributes in the context of sustainability. The primary purpose of this standard, however, is to assure that all products, even those made from recycled materials where potentially harmful contaminants can be introduced, are safe for use.

This is a voluntary plastic DVD case certification program that is available to plastic packaging manufacturers. These manufacturers can apply for certification by submitting representative samples of their products to an independent testing facility. After confirming with the CDSA that they have met the requirements, they will be certified as safe suppliers of DVD packaging. The program will be continually managed by CDSA to insure sustained compliance with the standard.

Studios, replicators, content holders and buyers of optical media packaging are encouraged to insist on utilizing packaging only from CDSA certified suppliers. Doing so will assure product safety for the entire supply chain including consumers. To further this objective, all packaging suppliers globally are now invited to become CDSA certified to the new standard. Certified suppliers will be announced to the industry as they are accredited.

The following facilities have received Certificates of Compliance from CDSA after independent laboratory testing of finished plastic DVD packaging samples from their facilities were found to comply with the limits for hazardous materials as set forth in the CDSA Standard:
AGI Polymatrix: Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Carthuplas: Gaffney, South Carolina
Nexpak: Duluth, Georgia
VIVA Magnetics: Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

CDSA, the Content Delivery & Storage Association (formerly IRMA, the International Recording Media Association)