The Absence of Everything – New Concepts Pioneered by BDR and Partners

At the Currency Conference in May, Dieter Sauter, Vice President & General Manager Value Printing for Bundesdruckerei (BDR), unveiled the concept behind the ‘Dark Banknote Series‘, and the first note in this series (ExNihilo), which is the result of the SIRALab initiative. It demonstrates a remarkable, and potentially exciting, departure from conventional banknotes.

SIRALab is an innovation hub, with SIRA standing for Sustainability, Innovation, Recycling, Action. In BDR‘s words, the importance of each aspect is as follows:

• Sustainability is a key goal to secure the survival of mankind on earth. The banknote industry has already taken measures to a more sustainable approach, by incorporating sustainability into its processes and the core of its research and developments.

• Innovation has always been a major factor for growth. However, today the world is moving faster, and therefore new and diverse requirements are needed for innovation in the banknote industry in order to cope with the future.

• To secure our limited resources on the planet earth, further recycling measures are essential. Undertaking effective recycling within our industry starts by setting and early implementation of the right criteria into the banknote design.

• All these metrics will only be of value if the world takes action. The banknote industry can encourage this by fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.