Eco-friendly materials

Other materials:

Cards made from renewable sources generally refer to polylactide acid (PLA). This is often corn, but can be sugar cane, wheat or potatoes. These cards are completely sustainable unlike, for example, PVC which is manufactured using petroleum. PLA cards cut back on fossil energy and greenhouse gasses and are biodegradable and recyclable.

PLA cards can be pre-printed with graphics. For personalisation, it can be bonded to PVC to add a printable surface.

Green issues

PLA cards are relatively expensive and, as a new development, there are some teething problems. PLA suffers from discolouration that can affect print quality, and it must be kept cool before processing, which has an impact upon transportation. Attaching magnetic stripes is less straightforward than standard card materials.

Other green materials

There are also cards made of thin layers of wood, cellulose or both, glued together using environmentally-friendly glue. Entirely sustainable, these can be printed using special offset printing techniques.

Databac also offers alternative hybrid polyesters which are non-toxic, recyclable and biodegradable.