Mastercard is ramping up its efforts to eliminate first-use, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic from its credit cards by 2028. This underpins its past efforts to reduce ecological impact by way of Mastercard’s past partnership with card manufacturers Gemalto, Giesecke+Devrient, and IDEMIA, to form the Greener Payments Partnership to set up environmental best practices and decrease first-use PVC plastic in card manufacturing.
According to Mastercard, all of its plastic payment cards will be produced using sustainable materials, which includes bio-sourced or recycled plastics such as PLA (Polylactic Acid), rPVC (recycled PVC plastic), or rPET (recycled Polyethylene terephthalate plastic).
Mastercard conducted an analysis that revealed that the volume of plastic manufactured each year comes out to a mere less than 0.015, and concluded that there is still room for improvement and alternative materials should be pursued.
Mastercard plans to support its global issuing partners in the switchover, moving completely away from virgin PVC.
Bringing New Environmental Innovations to Market
Mastercard’s sustainability efforts can be traced back to nearly a decade ago, with a main focus on the environment, data responsibility, and financial inclusion.
The company has also collaborated with key players to continue its environmental innovation efforts such as the Sustainable Card, the Carbon Calculator, and the Priceless Planet Coalition.
“Mastercard is committed to advancing climate action and reducing waste by driving our business toward net zero emissions and leveraging our network and scale to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, regenerative economy,” said Ellen Jackowski, Chief Sustainability Officer at Mastercard said in a press release.
Ajay Bhalla, President of Cyber & Intelligence at Mastercard added:
“At Mastercard we are leading and shaping our industry’s collective pursuit of a more sustainable, more environmentally conscious future. As our customers respond to increased consumer desire to make more eco-friendly choices, we are making a firm commitment to reducing our environmental footprint – for the benefit of people, planet and inclusive growth.”