ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY CARDS
The need for environmentally friendly and sustainable products, has become more important and popular than ever before.
In Europe, this has been the trend for many years, but it has recently become the focus of many hotels in the US as well.
Available Options
WOOD
1
Biodegradable
RECYCLED PVC
2
Made from recycled materials-but not biodegradable
PPH BIO
3
Biodegradable
**NEW Product**
WOOD (BIODEGRADABLE)
Wooden cards provide a great alternative to PVC. There are various wood types to choose from including Cherry, Bamboo, Walnut, Beech, Birch and Sapele wood. The wood texture gives a great feel to the card and provides guests with the feeling of a superior luxury card. Lazer engraving on the wood is usually preferred to color printing.
However, wooden cards can break and they are 2 to 3 times more expensive that PVC.
RECYCLED PVC
This This means that the cards are made from old, used PVC card stock, instead of creating new
PVC. However this can only be done in specialized and dedicated PVC recycling facilities that do not mix other plastic types. This cannot be done in general municipal recycling centers in the US.
Recycled PVC, provides all the benefits of a strong and durable standard PVC card, with only a slightly higher cost of production.
However, the Recycled PVC card itself, is not biodegradable.
PPH BIO (BIODEGRADABLE) **(NEW)**
Recently a new product has been developed called PPH. This material is 100% biodegradable. The card is designed to be environmentally friendly and biodegrade in a landfill. PPH cards can be printed in full color with special print effects such as raised gloss UV. All printing is coated with a non-toxic protective varnish and the card body composition is 100% plastics free, while still protecting the print from scratches/ blemishes.
We believe that this is the most cost effective alternative to PVC, that is both Biodegradable and Green Friendly. This this was designed for the hotel industry, where key cards only require a short lifespan.
PVC Cards – Pros and Cons
PVC is the world’s third-most widely used synthetic plastic in production. PVC is a dense plastic with extremely good tensile strength, resistant to chemicals and
very cost effective. To date, this has been used for most hotel key cards globally.
However PVC is toxic and can pose serious health and
environmental hazards when burned, as it
emits hydrogen chloride (HCl) fumes. PVC cannot be recycled by municipal authorities with recycling programs due to their inability to mix PVC with other plastic types.
The PVC chemical bonds are designed to last forever, and production is cheap, however it is harmful to the environment.
“...production is cheap, however it
is harmful to the environment. ”
The inherent chemical composition of PVC is designed to last forever and does not allow for the breaking down of the carbon chemical bonds in any way, even when mixed with other plastic
types. Therefore any product containing any PVC, cannot be 100% biodegradable.
In Europe and the UK these products were therefore rejected by the market, forcing some hotels to rescind their green points certificates.
(While Cardz Group Africa can source these cards, we do not believe in selling products that are not certified or found to be making false claims. As such we choose not to offer these cards.)
BioPVC, EcoPVC, and other misleading product names
There are other PVC products in the market, however these are marketing brand names and not certified biodegradable products. The products still contain some layer of PVC chemical components that do not biodegrade.
There is no evidence or documentation to support the claims made by those marketing and selling these products.
Summary of Environmentally Friendly Options:
Title | Durability | Lifespan | Waterproof | Print | Cost | Biodegradable | Environmentally Friendly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PPH BIO | CAN TEAR & BEND | SHORT | NO | FULL COLOR | Only .05c more | YES | YES |
Recycled PVC | STRONG | LONG | YES | FULL COLOR | Only .05c more | NO | YES |
WOOD | BREAKABLE | SHORT | NO | ENGRAVED | 2-3 x more than PVC | YES | YES |
PVC | STRONG | LONG | YES | FULL COLOR | Cheap | NO | NO |
