As consumers look for ways to help tackle climate change through their own positive actions, many are limiting their use of single-use plastics. To address this growing concern, Mastercard has worked with global industry players to develop a sustainable card program for all card issuers globally. A new directory of sustainable materials and vendors for card products aims to make sustainable choice the preferred option for all financial institutions worldwide and drive enhanced innovation.
Today, Mastercard’s sustainable card offerings are available to consumers in over a dozen countries globally and more than 60 financial institutions have issued cards with approved materials made from recyclable, bio-sourced, chlorine-free, degradable and ocean plastics. These institutions include Crédit Agricole and Mauritius Commercial Bank, as well as Santander, which will issue cards shortly. With this resource, banks can learn more about these alternatives, connect to card manufacturers and ultimately augment their own sustainability initiatives with a systemic change to their supply chain.
This initiative is a new milestone in a multi-year effort that will lead to the launch of Mastercard’s global certification scheme for approved sustainable cards. It builds on the Greener Payments Partnership (GPP) formed by Mastercard and card manufacturers Gemalto, Giesecke+Devrient and IDEMIA in 2018 to establish environmental best practices and reduce first-use PVC plastic in card manufacturing. Six billion payments cards are produced each year, typically from PVC. These cards are replaced on average every three to four years, with discarded cards going to landfills across the world.
More details from Mastercard here.
