Currently, the global ID card industry is undergoing a "green transformation" from PVC to PC/PETG. Due to the environmental drawbacks of PVC such as containing chlorine and being difficult to recycle, it has been gradually phased out in regions like the EU (for instance, Germany promoted the use of PETG ID cards since 2018).
Meanwhile, the tear-resistant and high-temperature-resistant properties of PC have made it the preferred material for high-security documents (such as electronic passports), and the recyclability of PETG has rapidly gained popularity under the impetus of environmental policies (for example, France adopted PETG as the base material for its new ID cards in 2021).
Due to cost and technology limitations in developing countries, PVC still dominates the market. In the future, with the tightening of circular economy regulations (such as the EU's "Plastic Strategy") and breakthroughs in material modification technologies (such as reducing the cost of PC), PC/PETG will dominate the global market within 10-15 years. However, PVC will still exist in many application fields for a while in the short term.
