Plastic gift cards - retailers should boost their CSR credentials by ditching them

A not very welcome import from the US to the UK has been the so-called reusable plastic gift card. The logic behind these is that they are less wasteful, because you can put money on them more than once. In practice though, how likely is this to happen? Will you return the card to the giver with a little note asking them to fill it up again? This is not recommended if you want to retain good relationships with your friends and relatives.

The use of these plastic gift cards is now endemic, with even respected sustainable responsible brands such as Marks & Spencer using them.

So why should Heads of CSR be concerned about such a small thing?

According to the International Card Manufacturers Association, nearly 10 billion gift cards are created every year. As these are predominantly made from PVC, it is virtually impossible for consumers to recycle them via household schemes. That means 10 billion cards heading for landfill, where they will remain in perpetuity. However, the resistance to dumping gift cards is likely to be fierce. According to Gift Cards and Vouchers in the UK, the US prepaid gift card market is worth US$80 billion per year.

It is theoretically possible to recycle PVC but due to its high chemical content it needs to be separated from other plastics before being recycled. It is expensive to separate and collect PVC separately and the market value of the recycled product compared to its 'virgin' equivalent is very low. Simply put, it is not worth companies' or councils' while to recycle it. Commercial PVC waste is more commonly recycled but the practical difficulties still remain.

If retailers are serious about the environmental elements of their CSR strategies, they should take a closer look at their plastic gift cards. An alternative to scrapping them would be to make them out of a different type of plastic. The UK's Co-operative Bank now makes its bank cards out of PET-G which is much more easily recyclable. If the Co-op can do this with bank cards, there is no reason why the same principle couldn't be applied to gift cards.

Many CSR initiatives contain targets for reducing waste to landfill, as well as incentives for helping their customers to reduce, reuse and recycle. Either adopting a more easily recyclable alternative, as outlined above or switching back to paper gift vouchers could make a valuable contribution to this.

In the end, however, perhaps the only real way of reducing the impact of plastic gift cards on the environment is to avoid them completely. Apple's iTunes lets users buy songs, albums, videos and audio books from the iTunes Store to send via e-mail. It has also rolled these out via its Facebook page where buyers can customise their gifts. There is no plastic, no need for recycling and the gift is instant. Although Apple does still produce plastic gift cards as well, this option demonstrates a step in the right direction.

Photo Credit: Robinsonsmay