Supporting Central Banks to Embrace Recycling in Latin America

At the recent HSP Latin America conference in Rio de Janeiro, a new category was introduced to the Regional Banknote of the Year Awards, namely – Best Environmental Project. CCL Secure received a special commendation for its Banknote Waste Management programme. This article gives the background and detail of the initiative.

The environmental harms caused by burning or burying end-of-life banknotes are well known by now, but for many central banks, the path towards more sustainable solutions remains somewhat unclear.

Both the European Central Bank and Waste International have concluded that composting or recycling are the best alternatives. The question is how this can be achieved. CCL Secure believes suppliers should play a role in finding solutions, and that’s exactly what we’ve done in Latin America.

There are billions of GUARDIAN™ banknotes circulating throughout the region, and every one of them will be recycled. That’s more than half a billion banknotes per year. The outlook was radically different just one decade ago, when only a handful of central banks were recycling. At that time, the vast majority of polymer banknotes were instead being sent to languish in landfill. So, what changed?