Sustainability – a Better Way to do Business

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.

As the world’s leading provider of polymer banknote technology, CCL Secure has investigated the whole issue of sustainability in depth, not least because some people still cling to the idea that paper is more environmentally friendly than polymer. In fact, as numerous studies carried out for central banks around the world show, polymer has a far lower environmental impact than paper.

The fact is that only 25% of the environmental impact of a banknote can be related to the production of substrate and printing. A massive 68% of the impact comes from the notes simply being in circulation. This includes the electricity used to run ATMs, transport to move banknotes around, and the distribution of banknotes from commercial banks to retailers and other outlets.

By moving to polymer, a central bank extends the life of their banknotes significantly. A longer life means there is far less need to print replacement banknotes so frequently. So, the need for substrate and printing is reduced by a factor of three to five times, as is the need for substrate to be transported to a printworks.

In circulation, less processing and transportation is involved in maintaining a supply of high-quality banknotes. All of this serves to reduce the environmental impact of polymer banknotes .

There are other ways too in which a business can make a difference.

Turning policies into action for CCL Secure, for example, means recycling 100% of polymer waste created by the company’s manufacturing processes. A global recycling initiative is already in place to help central banks and printworks to achieve similarly complete recycling rates for unfit notes. Currently 80% of GUARDIAN™-based banknotes are recycled.

In addition, the company’s plants worldwide are working towards more sustainable inputs such as electricity, film and solvents, as well as reducing the impact of its waste with a view to achieving zero landfill.

The GUARDIAN production facility in the UK has already reduced the proportion of waste that goes to landfill to just 1%, and aims for this to be 100% very soon. The other production facilities in Australia and Mexico are also working towards this goal. Other steps include investment in carbon removal projects, low spoilage rates and energy efficiency measures.

CCL Secure’s UK plant, for example, achieved a 50% reduction in the use of gas by capturing some of the solvents that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere and using them for power generation. Air quality, both inside and outside the plant, was also significantly improved, with emissions to air consistently well below permitted environmental discharge consents.

The perils of fake news

All of which is good news. But, despite the progress being made, there are still challenges. Not least is the challenge from the dissemination of fake news. Whether the news is deliberately falsified or simply fuelled by ignorance, the effects can be the same: people making decisions based on false assumptions or information.

Take, for example, one of the stories that circulated in the early days of the pandemic. The hunger for information about this strange, confusing, and frightening new phenomenon was fed largely by speculation and conjecture, not all of which was based on scientific sources.

So, when a respected media source – the UK’s Daily Telegraph – published a story about how banknotes were vectors for the new virus, many people panicked. Many retail outlets stopped accepting cash of all kinds – paper as well as polymer. People were told to be frightened of the banknotes in their pockets or purses. This was merely the latest in a series of stories that were circulating on social media and other outlets.

As well as the viral vector claim, other stories were in circulation, such as polymer having a detrimental environmental impact, doubts about the durability of polymer banknotes, and claims that hot climates adversely affect the performance of polymer.

What all of these stories have in common is that they simply aren’t true.

As ‘The Polymer Banknote People’, CCL Secure knew the facts. But facts can be complicated and messy. A headline on a fake news story can be as simple and as strident as it wants to be.

One solution for CCL Secure was to double down on the facts and to make those facts as widely available as possible. The company created a dedicated website – truthaboutplasticbanknotes.com – specifically to get the facts out there. These include university studies about the cleanliness of polymer banknotes and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) studies carried out by major banks that prove polymer to have a much lower environmental impact than paper.

To counter the lies and the misapprehensions was not only a business decision for us, it was simply the right thing to do because we are convinced that polymer is genuinely a better option for cash than other substrates. We also believe that the availability of cash continues to be hugely important for billions of people around the world.

Importance of ethics

Of course, in order to be seen as a credible source of information, CCL Secure recognised that it needed to be mindful of its reputation as an ethically based business. So, just as a commitment to sustainability needs to be supported by action, not just words, ethical practice needs to be supported by demonstrable, rigorously high standards of ethical behaviour.

The payment of commissions to third parties, for instance, continues to be commonplace in the industry, and whilst there has been much debate within the industry and amongst BnEI members about where the appropriate limit should be set, CCL Secure has adopted a no commission policy – with no exceptions.

It is the high pay-out-for-results structures that carry the most compliance risk. The risk applies not only to the companies themselves, but also to the central banks that have suppliers who operate this way. We hope that others will follow our lead on this important initiative.

This article is based on a presentation given by Lachlan McDonald to The Banknote & Currency Conference 2022.