Sustainable Alternatives for the Classic RFID Card
You may be pleasantly surprised to hear that there are now environmentally friendly alternatives for your plastic cards, be it credit cards, gift cards, membership cards or ‘did I steal this from a hotel?’ door card.
As the waste bergs in the ocean grow, our animals fade away and our landfill increases ground pollution, we need to act fast towards sustainable living now more than ever.
One of the ways that we can accomplish this as a community, is to make a smart switch towards using sustainable materials such as biodegradable plastic for our cards.
What is an RFID Card?
The RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) card is the new and common card issued by banks to allow people to access money through contactless and ‘chip & pin’.
The card needs to be in close approximation to a scanner or reader in order for information to be passed and a transaction to be completed. All of this information is stored on a chip on your card.
So, what’s the issue? Well, our cards are all made out of plastic – namely, PVC – that is laminated together with the RFID technology card sandwiched in between.
They are built to last for long periods of time, and are not made with biodegradable plastics. However, this has not stopped us from changing our cards, updating for newer models and technology, or needing a replacement for loss or damage.
Because these cards are made of non-sustainable materials, they simply end up in landfill.
What are Alternative Plastics?
To battle the waste of landfill materials and non-sustainable goods, there have been many technological advances that have allowed us to create newer alternative plastics.
There have been cards made from bamboo, recycled PVC, wood, grass, cardboard and even chalk.
They all offer their advantages to card manufacturing and usage such as being biodegradable or using manufacturing processes that don’t release pollutants. But, there are also the disadvantages that prevent corporations from adopting this processes as the ‘norm’.
For example; the chalk card needs to be mixed with polyethylene. These are degradable, but with polyethylene being one of the most common plastics we use today, it is still a non-sustainable method of card production that will ultimately end in landfill.
What is the BioSheetTM?
The BioSheetTM is a new alternative plastic option for mass card production. At the BioPoly lab, our industry experts have worked tirelessly to create a material that has the same acting properties as the PVC sheets we use for our cards. It is made to have the same photo quality, durability and flexibility so we can enjoy our spending spree while being the environmentally friendly heroes we ought to be.
As an alternative plastic, it offers a greener solution to a commonly used and thrown away material goods.
They are made using natural biomass products such as starch, wood chips or vegetable oils. This poses a far more sustainable production method as opposed to our current cards that use fossil fuel or petrol-based plastics.
Many biodegradable plastic cards like these will naturally wear in a years’ time, allowing for a new card to be produced and issued. However, as the materials are sustainable and infinite, nothing goes into landfill and the production methods are similar, they will still pose as the best solution to a growing concern.
For more information about how the BioSheetTM can be used to manufacture our cards, visit our website.
Create your eco-friendly wallet today by filling it with BioSheetTM.
