Blendpaper was one of the presenters in the second episode of the Cash & Payments Sustainability Forum™ online seminar series on repurposing unfit cotton banknotes.
One of the other speakers was from Biobanknote, a developer of practical solutions for composting banknotes and banknote waste, which is then used to improve soil and grow trees (see CN February 2023). The Colombian-based company is now offering a new service to help central banks understand and explore options for composting their banknote shreds.
A frequent question is whether countries’ banknotes are biodegradable. Biobanknote has worked with a local laboratory to carry out an analysis to determine what enzymes and micro-organisms are required and how long it will take for the banknote to biodegrade. Effectively this determines the level of composting required and the ‘recipe’ to achieve a high-quality soil amendment.
Central banks can either send shredded banknote waste samples to Biobanknote for each denomination, or specimen banknotes. Biobanknote also suggests banknote and security printers and paper makers could also consider including this in the specifications of their cotton paper references and to be within the parameters required by their customers.
The third episode in the series on repurposing banknotes will take place 4 July.
