How CCL Secure and Innovia Films Create Bank Grade Polymer

CCL Secure’s GUARDIAN™ substrate was the catalyst for the development of the market for polymer banknotes over the past three decades, and it remains a key driver for its continuing growth.

It was the Reserve Bank of Australia’s iconic 1988 bicentennial commemorative $10 note, the result of an R&D programme that began in the 1960s, which first showed the potential of polymer. Since then, polymer technology has developed even further, with advances such as the introduction of Propanote™ Clarity C film, a specially formulated biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film.

‘It was the world’s first and only bank grade polymer with an inherent forensic signature until the recent launch of Propanote™ Opacity W, which is used for SPARTAN™️ banknotes, and is the result of similarly intensive research and development,’ says Dr Tim Berridge, CCL Secure’s Director of R&D, Marketing and Design.

Both Clarity C and Opacity W are produced using Innovia Films’ bubble process, which creates a unique signature in the films that can be forensically inspected. Innovia Films is a specialist sister company of CCL Secure within the Canadian-based C$5.2 billion CCL Industries group.