Mastercard reinforces its sustainability commitments with a pledge?to remove the first–use, PVC plastics from payment cards on its network by 2028

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Mastercard announced it would scale the accessibility of more sustainable card offerings for consumers, accelerating its efforts to fully remove the first–use, PVC plastics from its payment cards by 2028.

Starting from?January 1, 2028, all Mastercard plastic payment cards will be made from more sustainable materials, e.g. recycled or bio-sourced plastics such as rPVC, rPET, or PLA. Besides, they will be approved through a dedicated Card Eco certification program.

First, all newly made cards will be certified by Mastercard to assess their composition and sustainability claims. Next, this certification will be validated by an independent third-party auditor. Only after both stages of validation, can the card be imprinted with a Card Eco Certification mark.

Mastercard promises to support its global issuing partners through the transition away from virgin PVC, while “leading and shaping” the “industry’s collective pursuit of a more sustainable, more environmentally conscious future.”

Mastercard launched its Sustainable Card Program back in 2018. Throughout the years, over 330 issuers across 80 countries have signed up?to transition more than 168 million cards across the Mastercard network to recycled and bio-based materials.

The accelerated transition to sustainable materials complements the company’s work to deliver innovative, digital-first card programs that fully eliminate the need for physical card offerings.

As we have previously reported,?Vancity added emission tracking feature to credit cards.