HOLIDAY ALERT: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Plastic Gift Cards Are On The Naughty List
For immediate release: November 25, 2022
Contact: Judith Enck, Beyond Plastics – JudithEnck@Bennington.edu, (518) 605-1770
As we enter the thick of the holiday giving season, Beyond Plastics has released a new fact sheet detailing the many reasons why brands and retailers should stop producing and selling gift cards made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, including that:
PVC is poisonous to produce. Vinyl chloride, the building block of PVC, is defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a human carcinogen.
PVC waste is hazardous to dispose of.
PVC gift cards are not accepted by curbside and household recycling programs.
Significant amounts of PVC waste are created from manufacturing gift cards.
U.S. PVC waste exports are violating the laws of countries that ban PVC imports and threatening the health of communities in the receiving countries, including Turkey, India, Mexico and Indonesia.
“There is no excuse for businesses to continue selling PVC gift cards when safer, more sustainable alternatives are readily available,” said Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and former U.S. EPA Regional Administrator. “We also urge consumers not to buy them,” said Enck.
Gift cards are a convenient and popular giving choice. Roughly $173 billion dollars’ worth of gift cards (a total of around 3.4 billion cards) were sold in the United States in 2021.[i] As the 2022 holiday season begins, experts say that “gift cards are expected to be popular presents as 60% of consumers say they will buy the cards to fill a void in product availability created by disruptions to product supply chains.”[ii]
Unfortunately, many big brand companies are still using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic to make their gift cards. Informal surveys indicate that as many as 70% of the gift cards sold in stores are made from PVC plastic.
Fortunately, safe, non-toxic, more sustainable alternatives to PVC gift cards are readily available now.
Businesses can choose to create and sell either:
1. Electronic Gift Cards. These digital gift cards are purchased and used online and through mobile apps, offering the same convenience as plastic or paper with none of the waste.
2. Paper Gift Cards. Paper gift cards are non-toxic and can be made from renewable resources. Amazon, Apple, and Starbucks are among the major brands who have opted to make their gift cards from paper.
Beyond Plastics is calling on all companies to commit to stop selling all PVC gift cards and switch to paper or electronic gift cards immediately. In particular, we are urging Albertsons, Kroger, Target, and Walmart - the four largest retailers of gift cards - to make the switch away from PVC gift cards to either paper or digital cards immediately.
Visit https://www.beyondplastics.org/pvcgiftcards to download the short fact sheet.
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[i]Research and Markets, United States Gift Card and Incentive Card Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics (Databook) - Q1 2022 Update, January 2022. Card number estimate based on $50 average value.
[ii] Digital Transactions, “Gift Cards Will Be High on Gift Lists This Holiday Season, A Fiserv Study Says,” August 23, 2022
