Project to recycle old gift cards hits first milestone
Wednesday, July 12, 2017 - 15:23:37
Gift cards are a popular option in the UK for people looking for a flexible present for friends and family members. They are also something of an environmental issue, since they tend to be made from plastic and are single use, which means that they get discarded in large volumes across the country each year.
A trial scheme to collect and recycle old gift cards has just been completed, with more than a million individual cards processed in an eco-friendly way, according to MRW.
A number of mainstream firms participated in the project, including high street DIY firm, B&Q. And the initial success of the RecoCard recycling initiative bodes well for the future of gift cards in Britain.
The fact that each year almost two billion plastic gift cards are pumped out in this country alone should be cause for concern for anyone with an interest in sustainability. While the one million cards recycled in the scheme may be a drop in the ocean, it could eventually help to minimise the 2,500 tonnes of waste associated with this marketplace going forwards.
Interestingly, a lot of the plastic cards recovered as part of the project go on to be used to make mobile SIM cards, which is a natural fit. This reduces the amount of processing which is required and makes the recycling a greener affair in its own right.
It is also hoped that more retailers will follow in the footsteps of B&Q by deciding to ditch plastic gift cards altogether. Instead, they are being phased out and replaced with cardboard equivalents, which are of course biodegradable and so present less of a problem if they do end up in landfill.
Educating consumers about this issue, as has been achieved with mobile phone recycling in recent years, will help put pressure on large firms to go green with their gift cards.
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