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Paper or plastic? New gift cards are made from trees

When it comes to selecting a gift for someone, you can rarely go wrong with a gift card to their favorite store. And now, when it’s a Best Buy gift card, you can feel good about how it’s made.

That’s because we’re saying “Bye-bye!” to plastic gift cards and “Season’s Greetings!” to gift cards made of paper.

Why the switch? It all comes down to what happens to the gift card after the last cent is spent. Our new gift cards and packaging can go right into the recycling bin. This year, we estimate we can save 18 tons of plastic from going into landfills (that’s the weight of about nine cars).

This year, seven of our eight holiday-themed gift cards come from trees. And we’re not stopping there. We want 100 percent of our in-store gift cards to be made of paper by next year, and we’re also reducing the size of the packaging the cards come in.

We partnered with paper mills

Paper gift cards have come a long way since we started this transition from plastic six years ago. Best Buy has partnered with paper mills to innovate on design, materials and production. Now we have a sturdy card made of FSC-certified paper (which comes from responsibly managed forests) and water-soluble glue and ink.

And here’s a bonus: The new cards are now cheaper to make than plastic.

Of course, if you want a zero-waste gift card, consider going digital. Our e-gift cards are easy to send and the recipient can start shopping right away at BestBuy.com.

 

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