Unfit Banknotes Transformed in Brazil

In 2020 Fedrigoni sold its Brazilian paper mill and Blendpaper / BP Security were created. The mill was originally founded in 1889 as Papel de Salto but was taken over by ArjoMari/Papel Simão in 1976, by Arjowiggins in 1997, and finally by Fedrigoni in 2015.

Today Blendpaper is a 98,000 m2 mill producing over 29,000 tonnes of paper each year with 500 employees. Its BP Security business produces paper for banknotes, passports, documents, seals, tickets and cheques. The mill also produces other papers ranging from fine papers through to lightweight packaging materials.

Concerned with issues related to sustainability, Blendpaper joined the Tran$forma Project. This project is an innovative solution that aims to find a way to transform all pre- and post-processing waste from banknote production into raw material for new products. This material includes waste from incorrectly printed banknotes. Blendpaper worked in partnership with Casa da Moeda do Brasil and Grupo Equipa to find a sustainable destination for the disposal of banknote waste.

The Equipa Group has been developing furniture and decoration materials with this waste. Blendpaper sees the same material as a high-value raw material and with a wide variety of developments in the security paper industry.

The project aims to solve the problem of how to break down the natural moisture resistance of banknote paper, a highly prized attribute that allows banknotes to survive moisture and even machine washing, so that the fibre can be reworked.

The material is processed in batches with aqueous waste and chemicals being added and the fibre then being worked with a thermal source in a controlled temperature curve. The material is repulped, washed and dried to generate a by-product usable in special papers. The objective is to develop circular solutions for new security papers, where efforts are concentrated, and studies advance.

Currently, there are Eco-Life™ papers, where between 3% and 100% waste from banknote production is used, and extended life plus papers, where a coated treatment is also added. To produce paper with banknote waste, BlendPaper dissolves 100% of the banknote, destroying all its security features. After drying and compacting, the cotton fibres become raw material to be used in the process of making several security papers.

According to the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Alexandre Gilberti, Blendpaper receives banknote waste from outside of Brazil, as well as from Brazil itself, creating a circular economy for material that would otherwise have been discarded.

New Service to Help Explore Biodegradability of Banknotes

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 microorganisms 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.