The payments major Mastercard launched a global initiative on Wednesday to recycle credit and debit cards as part of a strategy to keep the billions of cards now in use across the sector out of landfills.

Mastercard announced that banks from around the world, some of which have started local projects, will be eligible to join the programme and assist generate economies of scale. The initial partnership with British banker HSBC Holdings Plc was in eight branches in Britain.

“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.

As part of the agreement, Mastercard will give HSBC shredding equipment that can store 10,000 cards, or 50 kg (110 pounds) of plastic, at a time. It will be sent to a plastic recycling facility once it is full.

The plan’s financial particulars were kept secret. Customers will be able to recycle any plastic card through the pilot project, which will operate for the first six months. This includes cards from competitors.

“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.

According to Mastercard, there are currently about 3.1 billion cards in use. According to estimates, the sector produces 600 million cards annually, each with a lifespan of about five years.

Nearly 26 billion cards were in use worldwide in 2022, according to the industry analysis report by Nilson, which predicted that number may climb to 28.4 billion by 2027.

One of the largest environmental problems in the world is the growing amount of plastic garbage that is dumped in landfills or that contaminates rivers and oceans. Another significant source of greenhouse gas responsible for warming the earth is the plastic production process.

(Adapted from ThePrint.in)