Starling Bank launches cards made from recycled plastic

The digital bank has introduced new Mastercard debit cards which are to be made from recycled plastic.

At this point, there are about 97 million debit cards in circulation in the UK and the majority of them are made from the first-use PVC. Around the number goes over 17 billion bank cards.

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The new and replacement cards from Starling Bank will now be made from 75% recycled rPVC plastic, with the other 25% – the chip and laminated surface – made from non-recycled materials. 

Anne Boden, CEO and founder of Starling Bank said: “The environment is important to our customers, so launching a recycled plastic debit card was the right thing to do.”

“This new card comes with no deterioration in technical quality or capability, it simply supports people in their journey to become more green. We’re proud to be a branchless, paperless bank that runs on renewable energy. And now we’re delighted that we’re building on this with our new recycled cards.”

Paul Trueman, Senior Vice President, Product Advancement, Cyber & Intelligence at Mastercard said: “We are helping banks like Starling offer more eco-friendly cards to consumers – put simply, it’s better for the environment, it’s better for business and it meets evolving consumer needs.”

“We’re delighted to see Starling making the first move in the UK and to see efforts on sustainability gaining traction across the globe. We hope more organisations will join us, as we collectively use our power for good to address these pressing environmental challenges.”

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Starling informed that two kilos of CO2 will be saved for each kilo of recycled material used in the new debit cards compared to the previous version.

The company also announced a £272 million Series D funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research Company.