Macy’s Inc. is offering a recyclable gift card program through a partnership with Earthworks System LLC.

Cincinnati-based Macy’s department store locations will collect spent gift cards and return them to Earthworks System, of Solon, Ohio, where they will be reprocessed into printable sheet and re-sold to printers to make new cards. Earthworks System will imprint a recyclable identifier on the Macy's gift cards to indicate it is made of Earthworks’ approved recyclable material, the company said in a news release.

Macy's will be the first major department store to offer a recyclable gift card program, according to Earthworks, which makes recycled polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheets for the plastic card industry and plastic card recycling programs.

"The Earthworks System for plastic card recycling complements Macy's sustainable business philosophy," said Earthworks President Rodd Gilbert. "Our partnership will provide Macy's and its customers an environmental solution for the significant number of plastic cards it distributes every year."