Discover Financial Services has unveiled a credit card in the US made from biodegradable PVC.
Discover says 99% of the card plastic can be safely absorbed when exposed to landfill conditions. It will break down in soil, water, compost or wherever micro-organisms are present, fully degrading within five years.
Kelly Tufts, director of marketing planning & strategy, Discover, says: "The biodegradable Discover Card is another way for environmentally conscious consumers to do their part to help protect our planet."
Discover says another of its green initiatives, paperless statements, helped save around 4.6 million pounds of paper in 2008.