Continuing Efforts for Greener Cards

Here, we continue to chart the efforts of physical card manufacturers to work towards a greener future.

Recycled

MCT Cards & Technology, the largest card manufacturer in India, is a division of Manipal Technologies Limited set up in 2008, in a joint venture with Chanwanich Security Printing Company and Thomas Greg & Sons.

MCT Cards has launched a recyclable cards programme, where issuers can now produce cards made out of 99% recycled plastic, known as rPVC (recycled polyvinyl chloride) which in turn can again be recycled, thus further reducing carbon emissions. rPVC comprises used plastic from industrial waste, PET (polyester) bottles, and ocean and sea waste which is recycled according to ISO standards.

The company is also in talks with issuers and existing customers to streamline a process to collect old plastic cards and recycle them through incentives schemes.

MCT Cards has card variants with 70%, 90%, 95% and 99% recycled plastic. Every 99% rPVC card weighing 6.0 g, saves roughly 7.5 g of CO2 emissions and 4g of plastic waste.

Compared with some developed nations, where plastic card consumption is on a downtrend, India is seeing strong consumer demand for a physical card which means significantly more plastic. The short lifecycle of cards, and factors such as card upgrades or replacements, as well as lost cards only add to waste.

Bio-sourced

HID, a worldwide leader in trusted identity solutions, has introduced its Seos® Bamboo™ credentials made from sustainably sourced bamboo instead of PVC. The credential is part of HID’s award-winning Seos security solution and is the first in a range of physical access security Eco Cards™.

The bamboo is certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council® (FSC®), an assurance that the material comes from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.

Seos Bamboo cards also support organisations seeking green building certifications, including the internationally accepted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM®), and the Zero Waste to Landfill certification.

Recycled and bio-sourced

Mastercard has announced that it is accelerating its efforts to remove first–use, PVC plastics from payment cards on its network by 2028. This initiative increases the accessibility of more sustainable card offerings for consumers seeking a way to reduce the environmental impact of their wallet.

From January 2028, all newly–produced Mastercard plastic payment cards will be made from more sustainable materials – including recycled or bio-sourced plastics such as rPVC, rPET (recycled polyester), or PLA (polylactic acid) – and approved through a certification program. The company will support its global issuing partners through the transition away from virgin PVC.

Mastercard launched its Sustainable Card Program in 2018. Since then, over 330 issuers across 80 countries have voluntarily signed up, including 90 issuers in 15 markets across the Asia Pacific region.

Mastercard has also been working in partnership with major card manufacturers to transition more than 168 million cards across its network, including 31 million in the Asia Pacific region, to recycled and bio-based materials. Mastercard’s announcement accelerates these efforts, while complementing the company’s work to deliver digital-first card programs that fully eliminate the need for a physical card.

The policy announcement will also see all newly made cards being certified by Mastercard to assess their composition and sustainability claims; this certification will then be validated by an independent third-party auditor. Once a card has been validated it can be imprinted with a Card Eco Certification mark.

In 2018, through Mastercard’s Digital Security Lab, the company launched the Greener Payments Partnership with card manufacturers Gemalto, Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) and IDEMIA to reduce the amount of first-use PVC plastic used in card manufacturing.

Greener card construction (© Mastercard).

In addition to its initiative with Mastercard, G+D has pledged to replace all virgin plastic in its payment card products by 2030 at the latest to further support consumers and banks to fulfil their own sustainability aspirations.