Mastercard [MA:US] has pledged to remove first-use PVC plastics from its payment cards by 2028, as reported by ESG Today on April 10. From January 1, 2028, Mastercard will require all banks issuing its payment cards to use sustainable materials, such as recycled or bio-sourced plastics including rPVC, rPET, or PLA. All newly made cards will be certified by Mastercard to assess their composition and sustainability claims. An independent third-party auditor will validate this certification. The company will also support its global issuing partners in the transition away from virgin PVC.

Mastercard launched its Sustainable Card Program in 2018. Since then, over 330 issuers in 80 countries have joined the program and partnered with major card manufacturers. More than 168m cards have been transitioned to recycled and bio-based materials.Currently, 3 billion cards are manufactured annually with each containing around 5 grams of plastics, consuming roughly 16,000 tons of plastics per year. As most payment cards are cut into pieces and cannot be recycled due to the multiple layers of material used in their production, there are growing concerns about the environmental impact of unrecyclable plastics. In response, Bank of America [BAC:US] has committed to transitioning all of its cards to recycled plastic starting in 2023. Citigroup [C:US] has also announced plans to introduce recycled PVC across its corporate card portfolio.

Sources:

https://www.esgtoday.com/mastercard-to-eliminate-first-use-plastics-from-cards/

https://newsroom.mastercard.com/news/press/2023/april/mastercard-accelerates-sustainable-card-efforts/

https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/sustainability-matters/mastercard-remove-first-use-pvc-plastic-its-cards-2028

https://tearsheet.co/payments/debt-in-plastic-out-mastercards-future-cards-will-use-sustainable-materials/

https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/40111/bank-of-america-to-switch-all-cards-to-recycled-plastic-citi-starts-corporate-card-conversion