Our Process

Wind Power
Our corporate headquarters in Colorado is powered by wind, making us the first and only card manufacturer in the United States to specify that 100% of our electricity is generated through wind power. We are proud that our purchase of approximately 3,500 megawatts of this clean, sustainable, renewable energy source will result in a reduction of nearly 2,500 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, or the equivalent of keeping more than 435 cars off the road.

Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)
CPI is proud to be an Associate Member of CCX. This certifies that our Colorado plant is Carbon Neutral, purchasing 100% wind electricity. CCX-emitting Members make a voluntary but legally binding commitment to meet annual GHG emission reduction targets. 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
CPI recycles a large majority of the materials used in the manufacturing process. These materials include PVC card and sheet waste, metal laminating plates, metal printing plates, and office paper. We regrind PVC from aesthetically bad cards, which are used to make ABS pipe and Christmas trees. CPI works with a recycling company that uses regrind to produce PVC resin, which will ultimately produce recycled PVC.

Additionally CPI recycles our PVC set-up stock, and has installed a bailer to recycle the skeletons from our punch presses. When this is completely implemented, we will recycle about 97% of all the PVC material that we do not sell as good cards. For our printing inks, we continually reduce waste by color enhancement for future use. For example, blue ink could become black ink. An environmental company that incinerates the materials manages the printing inks. As a company, CPI is also committed to recycling supplies used by our employees, such as paper, newspaper and aluminum.

Our Products

Biodegradable
CPI Card Group was the first to use biodegradable material (BioPVC®) for plastic cards. Developed in 2004 and certified as fully biodegradable and environmentally safe in autumn 2005, this product biodegrades in nine months to five years. This material will allow the biodegradation of all our manufactured plastics, including Whites, Clears, Colors, Fluorescents and Transparents. It performs within all standard card parameters and has a standard shelf life. CPI has produced millions of biodegradable cards in the United States.

Ink adhesion, lamination, die cutting and embossing all perform within the same parameters. The finished card performs equal to cards manufactured on regular plastic as no biodegradation takes place unless the product is in a fertile environment. A fertile environment can include compost, waterways or where other items are biodegrading. Microorganisms consume the plastic over a period of time with complete disintegration taking place.

Wood
Biodegradable wood key cards are one of the most visible green initiatives available to hotels today.
By switching their key cards to biodegradable wood, hotels can reduce their harmful waste dramatically; while at the same time enrich the soil with eco-friendly material. Coming from forests that are managed for sustainability, the wood turns into non-toxic dirt to enrich the soil as it decomposes. It is made of over 95% unaltered organic plant material and completely biodegrades.

Recycled
Working with our PVC suppliers, we have developed PVC core sheets with a recycled content ranging from 25% to 100%. Like our biodegradable plastic, the finished card performs equal to cards manufactured on regular PVC. Ink adhesion, lamination, die cutting and embossing all perform within the same parameters.

PLA
PLA is the world’s first and only performance plastic made from 100% annually renewable resources like corn. Clear and strong like petroleum-based plastic, PLA can be commercially composted. This material is ideal for gift cards and other commercial card uses.