Global payment technology company Mastercard announced the launch of its new card recycling program, which aims to combat the environemntal impact of expired credit and debit cards made from first-use plastic.

Under the new initiative, MasterCard will collect, transport, and recycle expired cards to give banks a method of securely disposing of the cards. The pilot was launched yesterday in the UK where some branches of HSBC bank now offering card recycling, with plans to roll out globally.

Taylan Turan, Global Head of Retail Banking and Strategy at HSBC for Wealth and Personal Banking, said:

“We are delighted to be partnering with Mastercard on this global card recycling programme. We are continually seeking new ways to make a difference and reduce the wider environmental impact of our operations.”

The new program follows an announcement earlier this year by Mastercard of a commitment to remove first–use, PVC plastics from payment cards on its network, and a new rule requiring all newly–produced Mastercard plastic payment cards be made from more sustainable materials – such as recycled or bio-sourced plastics – by 2028.

According to the company, expired cards will be dropped off at secure collection boxes where they’ll be shredded inside the box and the built-in chip destroyed. The shredded waste then gets sent to MasterCard’s recycling partner TerraCycle, where the shredded plastic is transformed into pellets and powders that can be reused for other plastic items.

In a blog post highlighting the new program, Ajay Bhalla, Mastercard’s President of Cyber & Intelligence, said:

“We see a future where all plastic cards can be recycled easily – at your bank, your corner store, or your municipal recycling center – to make a small but meaningful dent in the plastic pollution crisis. The innovation and collaboration that produced the payment cards we carry today can and should be harnessed to dispose of them in a secure and sustainable way.”

The announcement marks the latest in a series of sustainability-related initiatives at Mastercard. The company established its ESG efforts over ten years ago, initially focused on areas including financial inclusion, inclusive growth and data responsibility. In recent years, Mastercard has expanded its initiatives to include environmental sustainability, setting (and subsequently accelerating) a net zero target in 2021, and launching the Priceless Planet Coalition, working with partners to contribute to the goal of restoring 100 million trees by 2025. In 2021, Mastercard unveiled a compensation model for senior executives, with incentive pay linked in part to progress towards the company’s ESG priority areas of carbon neutrality, financial inclusion, and gender pay parity, and last year the company tied the achievement of ESG goals to bonus pay for all employees.

Bhalla added:

“We’re calling on all card issuers to take the next step by working with us to provide recycling for existing first-use plastic cards. We can provide our expertise and connect them with our recycling partner to organize programs of their own, maximizing impact with minimal cost and effort.”