Traditional plastic SIM cards have a significant negative impact on the environment, while their digital counterparts – embedded eSIMs – show a much smaller ecological footprint. According to research, the production of eSIMs results in 46% lower carbon dioxide emissions compared to classic SIM cards, reports gazeta.ru.

In 2023, global SIM card production reached 4.09 billion units. Of these, the majority – more than 3.5 billion – were traditional plastic cards, while eSIMs accounted for only 457 million. Experts at ABI Research predict a gradual decline in the physical SIM card market by the end of the 2020s.

Despite their small size, the cumulative impact of plastic SIM cards on the environment is quite substantial. The production of 4.5 billion cards annually requires about 20,000 tons of plastic.