Banknote design is subject to several tight boundaries, including security, cost, and longevity. Incorporating sustainability principles into banknote design is gaining momentum as a pivotal consideration in the security printing industry.

Only what is well understood can be engineered towards a defined outcome. The Central Bank, as the overall project owner, defines the product and its features, the security printer designs and produces the product, and commercial banks and CITs handle the product. The destruction of banknotes is carried out according to local legislation. Most life cycle stages are disconnected from each other for security reasons. Yet, all stages contribute to the environmental impact of the product. While the use phase mostly depends on local factors like climate or tradition of money use, the production phase can be modelled independently.

Orell Füssli’s Bees®”, the Banknote Environmental Evaluation Software offers a convenient graphical user interface to select and display a selection of materials and security features on a banknote. Based upon proven and tested data sets, it generates a variety of Life Cycle Assessment KPIs. Variants of banknotes under development can be compared with each other or with a preceding series. With BEES®, OFS provides a service to Issuing Authorities to enable informed decisions on the environmental impact of a banknote, especially during the design and development stage.