Mastercard launches global plan to recycle credit cards

Initially partnering with British lender HSBC in eight branches in Britain, Mastercard said banks across the world, some of which have launched local initiatives, would be able to join the programme and help build economies of scale.

"We are inviting all card issuers around the world to partner with us, no matter what region they are in, and offer card recycling to their customers," said Ajay Bhalla, president of cyber and intelligence at Mastercard Inc.

Under the plan, Mastercard will provide shredding machines to HSBC, each of which is capable of holding 10,000 cards, equivalent to 50kg (110lb) of plastic. Once full, the shredded material will be transferred to a plastic recycling facility.

Financial details about the plan were not disclosed. The pilot project, which will run for an initial six months, will allow customers to recycle any plastic card, including those from rival banks and credit providers.

"This recycling pilot will provide us with some very important insight and will inform our longer-term plans," said Jose Carvalho, head of wealth and personal banking at HSBC UK.

Currently, Mastercard said it has around 3.1 billion cards in circulation. Each year, it estimates approximately 600 million cards are produced by the industry, each with a life span of around five years.

The Nilson Report, which analyses the industry, put total cards in circulation at nearly 26 billion in 2022 and forecast that this number could rise to over 28 billion by 2027.

Soaring plastic use has created one of the world's biggest environmental challenges, with plastic waste buried in landfills and polluting rivers and oceans. The manufacturing process for plastic is also a major source of planet-warming greenhouse gas.

Earlier this month, a study suggested that humans may be inhaling up to a credit card's worth of microplastic every week, which could pose serious health risks.

According to a team of researchers from a number of universities, humans might inhale around 16.2 bits of microplastic every hour. Such plastics commonly contain toxic pollutants and chemicals.