Mastercard has launched a global initiative to recycle credit and debit cards to prevent billions of cards from ending up in landfills.
The company has initially partnered with HSBC in the UK, with plans to expand the program to other banks worldwide.
Shredding machines provided by Mastercard will be placed in HSBC branches, capable of holding 10,000 cards each, equivalent to 50 kg (110 pounds) of plastic.
The complete machines will then be transferred to plastic recycling facilities.
The pilot project will run for six months and allow customers to recycle any plastic card, even those from rival banks.
With approximately 3.1 billion cards currently in circulation, Mastercard estimates that the industry produces around 600 million cards annually, each with a lifespan of about five years.