We’re making all of our new cards from 85% recycled PVC. This is one of the key steps we’re taking to reduce our carbon emissions and the amount of plastic waste.
Did you know recycled PVC cards use less energy to make than cards made from non-recycled PVC? Making the 5m cards a year we send more environmentally friendly will prevent the emission of 48 tonnes of carbon per year. It will also reduce the amount of new plastic being created by 22 tonnes a year - the weight of around 11 family cars.
You’ll see the eco symbol on the back of our cards. But nothing is changing with your account so you don’t need to worry, you can still use your card in the same way.
We’ve also redesigned the look of our cards to be portrait, the way we use them today. This will help them stand out from the crowd and be easy to find in your wallet. And you’ll still find all the useful card information on the back.
We’ve added a notch at the bottom left of the card to help blind and partially sighted customers identify the card and know which way to use it. Plus, each card is now a different colour (debit is red, credit is black and cash cards are blue) to make it easier to tell them apart.
To be as sustainable as possible, we'll continue to only replace your card when it naturally expires or is lost, stolen or damaged. We’re also increasing the expiry dates on our cards to reduce the amount of plastic we send out.
If you’d like to learn more on what we’re doing for cards, take a look at being green with plastic