Under the plan, Mastercard will provide shredding machines to HSBC, each of which is capable of holding 10,000 cards, equivalent to 50 kg (110 pounds) of plastic. Once full, it will be transferred to a plastic recycling facility. The pilot project, which will run for an initial six months, will allow customers to recycle any plastic card, including those from rivals. Currently, Mastercard said it has around 3.1 billion cards in circulation. Each year, it estimates around 600 million cards are produced by the industry, each with a life span of around five years.

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Persons: Ajay Bhalla, Jose Carvalho, Nilson, Simon Jessop, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: HSBC Mastercard, Payments, Mastercard, Wednesday, HSBC Holdings Plc, Mastercard Inc, HSBC, HSBC UK, Thomson Locations: Britain