A New Polymer Enters the Market

There was a time when the market for polymer substrates, albeit small, was dominated by one supplier. The market grew, and so did the number of suppliers, CCL Secure and GUARDIAN™ being joined by De La Rue with SAFEGUARD®.

The two still dominate, but others are spreading their wings too, amongst them China Banknote Printing and Minting, Spectra Systems with FUSION and Q&T Hi-Tech Polymer with POLYSECURE® (see CN April 2024).

To this list should be added Covestro, which has developed a polymer substrate for banknotes made from thermoplastic polyurethane.

Covestro, formerly Bayer MaterialScience, is already active in the security market through the supply of polycarbonate films for ID cards and passport data pages. It is now showcasing a new substrate for banknotes that, it says, offers significant benefits over conventional polymer materials.

The product is a thermoplastic polyurethane which is created through extrusion, during which the addition of white pigments (or, potentially, other colours) take place as opposed to the route for other polymer substrates, which are coated through opacification. No surface printing is required either before or after printing.