Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering – Where Banknote Destruction Meets Sustainability

One of the main most visual environmental impacts of banknotes is not in their production but their destruction – with incineration and landfill still being all-too-frequent methods of removal. In last month’s Currency News™, we reported on the results of the 2025 Banknote Recycling Study, the latest biennial survey from Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering (Kusters), which explored how central banks are handling the disposal of unfit notes in particular, and progress made (or not) since the previous survey of 2023.

In this issue, we take a look behind the scenes of the company, which this year celebrates its 115th anniversary. We spoke to Jeroen Kusters, its Sales Director and from the fourth generation of family members to work in the business, about the foundations of Kusters, how it was well ahead of its time in identifying and addressing the management and disposal of waste in a secure and sustainable manner, and the challenges of modern day recycling of end-of-life banknotes.