Mastercard has announced it is accelerating efforts to remove first—use, PVC plastics from payment cards on its network by 2028.
This initiative further reinforces the company’s sustainability commitments and scales the accessibility of more sustainable card offerings for consumers seeking a way to reduce the environmental impact of their wallet.
In a first move for a payment network, from Jan. 1, 2028, all newly—produced Mastercard plastic payment cards will be made from more sustainable materials — including recycled or bio-sourced plastics such as rPVC, rPET, or PLA – and approved through a certification program. The company will support its global issuing partners through the transition away from virgin PVC.
“The world has a plastic problem. Solving it will be a whole-of-society task, yet efforts are often taken in isolation or without coordination,” said Sandeep Malhotra, executive vice president, Products & Innovation, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. With this sustainable cards effort, Mastercard is bringing its global network of banks, financial institutions and consumers — who collectively hold more than 3 billion Mastercard cards — together to build a greener payments sector through collaboration and partnership.”
Mastercard launched its Sustainable Card Program in 2018. Since then, over 330 issuers across 80 countries have voluntarily signed up, including 90 issuers in 15 markets across the Asia Pacific region. Since then, Mastercard has been working in partnership with major card manufacturers to transition more than 168 million cards across its network, including 31 million in the Asia Pacific region, to recycled and bio-based materials.
