At the Banknote & Currency Conference in February, Swiss substrate manufacturer Landqart revealed new research it has been carrying out on how to dispose of banknotes at the end of their life in an environmentally sound way.

The UK’s Royal Mint has announced plans to build a new plant in Llantrisant, South Wales, to recover gold from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

De La Rue has issued a trading update in which it said that it expects its full year operating profits to be in line with market expectations (these being based on the average published notes from Investec and Numis Securities). Net debt is expected to be slightly better than market expectations of £75 million.

There is a lot going on in the Philippines at the moment. Currency News™ caught up with Deputy Governor Mamomet Tangonan at the recent Banknote & Currency Conference to find out more.

The Central Bank of Tunisia has issued two new banknotes – the 5 and 50 dinars – which will co-circulate with the existing versions. The 50 dinar features the former Prime Minister, Hédi Nouira, and the 5 dinar a portrait of the engineer, agronomist and activist Slaheddine Amami.

In early June Currency Research will host its first in person Cash Cycle Seminar since COVID forced a postponement of the planned March 2020 event in Amsterdam.

After several years of losses, the Mint of Finland has reported a significant increase in sales and return to profit for 2021. Consolidated revenue increased by 45% to €83 million, due largely to a good order backlog at the beginning the year.

The Banco de México has continued its award-winning streak with the International Bank Note Society (IBNS) Banknote of the Year award for 2021 for the 50 peso. It won the same award for 2020 for the new 100 peso. And both notes recently earned it the HSP Regional Banknote of the Year award.

De La Rue launched the next effects in its IGNITE® thread portfolio at the Banknote & Currency Conference in February. IGNITE belongs to the fast-growing combinational thread category that is becoming extremely popular amongst central banks that issue paper banknotes.

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) is moving its gold vault and banknote activities from its head office in Amsterdam to Camp New Amsterdam in Zeist, and is making good progress on the project, which is due to complete next year.

SICPA has unveiled the name for its new campus in Lausanne – unlimitrust. Formerly known as Square One, the aim of the new campus, the first of its kind, is to bring together diverse partners promoting the ‘Economy of Trust’, linking the security of the physical world with its digital counterpart in order to protect goods and people from the vulnerabilities created by today’s global digitalised economy and governance.

Australia’s lower denomination coins will end up costing more to make than their face value, according to a report by the research outfit Morningstar, thanks to soaring metal prices.

Last month, we covered the annual results of five of the major companies in the cash sector – Brinks, Loomis, NCR, Diebold Nixdorf and Crane Co. All bar one reported an increase in both sales and profits. This month is the turn of Spectra Systems, Orell Füssli and Prosegur, where the results are more mixed.

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan issued a new series last year, based on the theme of the ‘Great Silk Road’ – the network of trade routes which played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the East and West.

Optical security feature and foil manufacturer KURZ has published a report – Communication on Progress – which presents the company’s sustainability performance to date in detail and also discusses its goals and plans.

The Reserve Bank of India has opened a new security ink manufacturing unit, VARNIKA, which will be operated by its subsidiary Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited in Mysore.

Following on from the successful trio of Banknote Conference, Currency Conference and Digital Currency Conference in February, Currency Research is preparing for their next in-person event, the EMEA Cash Cycle Seminar.

The switch from paper to polymer banknotes in the Caribbean is gathering speed, with two countries announcing in March that they will be making the change.

Ulster Bank, one of Northern Ireland’s three note issuing banks, has unveiled the design of its new vertically-orientated £50, which is inspired by the women of the province and is being printed on polymer.

One of the major challenges facing every business today is to operate sustainably. But it’s not enough simply to have a stack of policies, fine words, and good intentions to hand. Actions need to demonstrate that the policies are being put into action.