Mastercard has announced its plan to eliminate first-use, PVC plastics from its payment cards network by 2028.
This move reinforces the company’s sustainability commitments and aims to increase accessibility to more sustainable card options for customers who seek to reduce their environmental impact.
Starting from January 1, 2028, all newly-produced Mastercard plastic payment cards will be made from sustainable materials, such as recycled or bio-sourced plastics like rPVC, rPET, or PLA.
This is a first for any payment network, and the cards will be approved through a certification program. The company will support its global issuing partners in the transition from virgin PVC.
Executive Vice President, Products & Innovation, Asia Pacific, Mastercard, Sandeep Malhotra, said that the world has a plastic problem, and solving it will require a whole-of-society effort.
He added that with the sustainable cards effort, Mastercard is bringing its global network of banks, financial institutions, and consumers together to build a greener payments sector through collaboration and partnership.
Since the launch of its Sustainable Card Program in 2018, over 330 issuers across 80 countries have signed up, including 90 issuers in 15 markets across the Asia Pacific region.
Mastercard has been working in partnership with major card manufacturers to transition over 168 million cards across its network, including 31 million in the Asia Pacific region, to recycled and bio-based materials.
The rule change will see all newly-made cards certified by Mastercard to assess their composition and sustainability claims. This certification will be validated by an independent third-party auditor, and once a card has been validated, it can be imprinted with a Card Eco Certification mark.
Mastercard has also launched the Greener Payments Partnership in 2018 with card manufacturers Gemalto, Giesecke+Devrient, and IDEMIA to reduce the use of first-use PVC plastic in card manufacturing. The company has also established the Mastercard Card Eco-Certification scheme in 2021.
Mastercard’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Ellen Jackowski, said that Mastercard is committed to advancing climate action and reducing waste by driving its business towards net zero emissions and leveraging its network and scale to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, regenerative economy.
In addition, Mastercard’s Priceless Planet Coalition is working to restore 100 million trees globally by 2025. More than 20 partners in Australia, Korea, the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Cambodia have joined the coalition, which is currently running 18 reforestation projects worldwide.
HSBC’s Group Head of Retail Banking and Strategy, Wealth, and Personal Banking, Taylan Turan, said that new sustainable materials, such as rPVC, offer the sector a clear way to accelerate efforts to build a more sustainable future.
He added that HSBC has already introduced recycled plastic payment cards across 28 of its global markets, removing 85 tonnes of plastic that would have ended up in landfills. – BusinessNewsAsia.com