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PVC gift cards given new life as pipe in recycling trial

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One million old gift cards have been recycled into pipe after a successful reclamation by Axion Consulting of a high-street shop's old PVC vouchers.

Aided by the British Plastics Federation (BPF), the RecoCard partners were a retailer, Jellyfish Livewire, a Hampshire-based digital marketing agency and gift card producer and a specialist recycler.

Jellyfish Livewire decided to explore a take-back scheme with Berkshire-based RPCS, an accredited Recovinyl recycler, into granules to make irrigation pipes. The scheme proved that PVC store cards can be recycled successfully.

Although alternative plastic and cardboard options exist, most cards are made from PVC, a recyclable material. The lifecycle of a typical gift or store card tends to be short and some don’t even reach stores as branding or marketing offers change. This redundant or out-of-date stock is invariably left sitting in warehouses.

via shutterstock

Graham Lycett, Jellyfish Livewire Managing Director, said: “There’ll always be a need for both cardboard and plastic cards. As long as we can close the loop for the plastic ones by offering a proper recycling scheme for PVC cards, I think we tick every box and provide retailers with a choice - the UK gift card market is such a big part of our economy - all powered by a small plastic card.”

Having proved the concept, investment in infrastructure is the next step. This includes a collection hub for PVC cards, including those redeemed in store, near to the recycler so that material can be transferred in bulk loads to minimise transport costs. The scheme could be extended to other types of cards, such as loyalty cards and hotel key cards.

Jane Gardner, Principal Consultant, Axion Consulting, said: “This is an excellent example of how a ‘short-life’ PVC product like a gift card can be recycled into a ‘long-life’ one such as pipes. As the first trial of its type, we have shown that gift cards can be recycled successfully and our aim is to eventually extend the scheme to more companies.”

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