Monday, October 6, 2025
Home Blog Page 1523

Unlocking the advantages of Polymer Banknotes

admin
-
0
Unlocking the advantages of Polymer Banknotes

As the world continues to evolve, so too does the way we handle currency. In an interview with Capital’s Groum Abate, Andrew Bonnell, the Director of Business Development at CCL Secure, sheds light on the innovative concept of polymer banknotes and their significant impact on various aspects of the economy and the environment.

Andrew Bonnell began his experience in the security industry overseeing General Motor’s Brand Protection Strategy for the Asia Pacific region while based in Shanghai.  Andrew has lived and worked in China, South East Asia, the Middle East & Africa, Europe and North America, and progressed from brand protection strategy, to security technologies for high security printing and documents, into the arena of banknote substrates and security features. Excerpts;  

Capital: What is a polymer banknote?

Andrew Bonnell: Polymer banknotes were developed to address key shortcomings Central Banks were experiencing with traditional cotton-paper notes. Polymer notes are produced with bi-axially oriented polypropylene material. The first polymer banknote was issued in Australia in 1988.

Central Banks are necessarily risk adverse and many do not move to new technologies without assessing the certainty of the benefits. The benefits of polymer have been proven in circulation in all environments resulting in over 40 countries around the world replacing a paper banknotes with polymer.

The increasing replacement of cotton paper substrates by polymer is due to the advantages polymer notes offers over cotton-paper banknotes. Polymer banknotes are more difficult to counterfeit, far more durable, cleaner and greener.

Capital: What are the environmental benefits of using polymer banknotes compared to paper banknotes?

Andrew: Some people are surprised to hear that polymer banknotes have a significantly reduced impact on the environment in circulation and are 100% recyclable at their useful life! As all banknotes are in a closed loop system no banknotes enter the waste stream. The Central Bank collects   all unfit cotton paper and polymer banknotes back at their Cash centres for shredding.  

After they shred cotton paper banknotes, Banks commonly decide on one of two disposal options for traditional cotton-paper banknotes: send these notes to be buried as landfill, or incinerate. Both options are very harmful to the environment.

In contrast, unfit polymer banknotes are recycled into polymer pellets and reused in the production of various plastic goods including buckets, trays, industrial components and furniture. For example, the Banco Central de Chile uses its end of life polymer notes to produce plastic wood. The plastic wood has offered the country many advantages. It doesn’t rot, splinter or oxidize.

The Central Banks in Canada, Mexico and the UK engaged independent experts to conduct Lifecycle Assessment studies for their banknotes. The experts all found that polymer banknotes performed significantly better than cotton paper banknotes in all environmental impact areas categories in all 3 countries. Due to their longer life polymer banknotes are more environmentally friendly than cotton paper banknotes – recycling further increases these environmental benefits

Capital: How does the durability of polymer banknotes contribute to cost savings for a country?

Andrew: The increased longevity that polymer notes provide means less production (about 75% less) and far less transportation requirements. There are generally about 75% less reprint orders, less unfit notes being transported for checking during circulation and less processing of unfit notes.  This longer life saves the country costs to supply banknotes, with the added benefit of much lower impact on the environment. 

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has estimates savings of over one Billion Australian Dollars in currency costs because of the change from cotton paper to polymer banknotes.  The RBA circulates polymer banknotes and attributed the savings to polymer banknotes durability. Similar results are found in every major Bank that has issued polymer banknotes and undertaken the cost benefit analysis.

Capital: In what ways are polymer banknotes more secure than paper banknotes?

Andrew: The banknote design can incorporate a combination of unique substrate security features and traditional printed features making it difficult, time consuming and costly to counterfeit, yet easy for the public and retailers to quickly authenticate.

Generally the first thing people will notice when looking at a polymer banknote is a transparent area, which is called a window. The foundation of polymer banknotes, before any inks are added, is a robust transparent film. This window is intrinsic to a polymer banknote and is one of the major differences between polymer and cotton paper banknotes. Paper notes do not have any intrinsic windows although due to the success of polymer there have been some attempts to copy insert a window in a paper substrate. The clear window on a polymer banknote adds a level of complexity that is difficult to counterfeit. The transparency of the window results in the security features applied in the window being prominent and visible on both sides of the polymer banknote. This effectively doubles the challenge for a counterfeiter trying to copy the banknote.  

Additionally, there are many security features that are available on polymer banknotes that are not possible on paper notes.

A notable example of polymer banknotes counterfeit resilience is Canada. At the end of 2022, the counterfeiting rate was 6 parts per million (ppm), well below the performance of the prior cotton paper banknotes- 45 ppm in 2009 – and their target of 30 ppm. There are similar successes in Australia, England and New Zealand.  

Capital: Can you explain why polymer banknotes last at least three times longer than paper banknotes?

Andrew: As mentioned the core of every polymer banknote is a biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) transparent film. This BOPP is a robust film with excellent printing and handling properties.

Polypropylene is a long lasting extremely tough polymer with excellent resistance to oils, chemicals and rough handling conditions. It is suitable in all climatic conditions. Polymer banknotes circulate successfully in some of the coldest, hottest, driest and most humid regions in the world.

Polypropylene is used to manufacture numerous long life products including car parts, clothing, housewares and toys.

Capital: How do the cost savings from using polymer banknotes translate into significant financial benefits for a country?

Andrew: The savings from circulation polymer banknotes in place of cotton paper banknotes can be used to fund public needs e.g. schools, healthcare, infrastructure. Saving are mainly achieved through the much longer life of polymer banknotes. Polymer banknotes are proven to last 3 to 5 times longer than cotton paper banknotes. Most Central Banks reduce their banknote procurement costs by well over 50% over the life of a banknote series when circulating polymer banknotes compared to cotton paper banknotes. In addition to the reduction in the costs of procurement over the circulation life of polymer banknotes there is significant reduction in the costs of handing banknotes in circulation. This is primarily because polymer notes stay in good condition and as a result are not returned to commercial and Central Banks as frequently.

If counterfeiting has been a problem in a country the reduction in counterfeiting from polymer banknotes will also have an impact on reducing costs as managing a counterfeit problem can be very expensive for a Central Bank

Capital: Are there any potential drawbacks or disadvantages to switching to polymer banknotes? If so, what are they?

Andrew: In some countries unfit polymer banknotes process slightly slower than unfit paper notes (if both are fit then the processing speed is the same for both). However, due to polymer’s durability, there are far less polymer banknotes (generally about 75% less) that need to be processed that the overall efficiency is actually much better than traditional paper banknotes.

ATM’s and cash handling machines that accept and dispense banknotes must be adapted in some way for any new series whether on cotton paper op polymer. All ATMs are now suited to both paper and polymer and many countries circulate both banknote substrates. Hardware modifications like tray size are required if the banknote size changes whether paper or polymer. Beyond that software changes to money-handling equipment are required anytime the banknote design is updated – it doesn’t matter if it’s printed on paper or polymer, modifications will be necessary regardless.

Capital: How do polymer banknotes contribute to reducing the need for frequent note purchases?

Andrew: Basically polymer banknotes don’t wear out as quickly.  In all environments from the extreme cold of Canada to the extreme heat of Mexico, Egypt, Papua New Guinea and Mozambique – polymer banknotes last at least 3-5 longer than their paper counterparts.

Capital: Can you provide examples of countries that have successfully transitioned to using polymer banknotes and the benefits they have experienced?

Andrew: Over 40 counties have successfully converted to polymer including Australia, Canada, Mozambique, England, Romania, Papua New Guinea, Brunei, and Mexico. Not all banks publicise all their available data for security reasons. All banks that have converted to large scale circulation of polymer banknotes and that measure data on cost savings, counterfeiting and the environment have achieved significant gains.

Banks that publically report include:

·       Cost savings: Costa Rica, Australia, the UK

·       Counterfeits: England, NZ and Canada reported significant reductions in counterfeit activities thanks to their polymer banknotes notes.

·       Recycling: Mexico, Chile, Australia and Egypt found tremendous success with their polymer recycling initiatives.

·       Public Acceptance: Banks that measure and report public acceptance generally find that the public prefer polymer banknotes to paper once they have experienced polymer banknotes. Reasons include cleanliness, banknotes not becoming limp and the technically advanced appearance.

There are many, many more examples in different parts of the world.

CCL Secure supplied over 90% of the polymer banknotes that have circulated worldwide.

Capital: What are some of the long-term implications of adopting polymer banknotes, both economically and environmentally?

Andrew: Simply put – the benefits to the country are significant cost savings, better counterfeit protection, cleaner notes in better condition in circulation, and environmental gains .

Good Governance – saving the Public purse – and ALL the savings are in foreign currency – good for IMF relations as well!

Capital: How do polymer banknotes enhance security measures compared to paper banknotes?

Andrew: In addition to the increased security provided by the windows the fact that polymer banknotes stay in good condition for much longer and do not soil is a barrier to counterfeiting. Its relatively common for counterfeiters to soil paper banknotes to camouflage counterfeit security features in countries where soiled notes circulate. This practice is not feasible with polymer banknotes

Capital: Have you ever tried to talk to authorities in Ethiopia about the use of Polymer banknotes? If so, what was their reaction?

Andrew: We’ve had some preliminary talk with members of the National Bank of Ethiopia, and the early signs look promising. Though it may be a bit premature to expect any changes any time soon, the Bank members we talked to appreciate the benefits the NBE can expect from a switch to polymer banknotes, which again include savings in the procurement of cash that may be allocated to other areas in Ethiopia at the discretion of the Bank (be it in education, healthcare, etc. or other development projects). The Bank is professional and we are certain that once they have assessed the benefits they will act in the best interests of Ethiopia.

The costs of unsafe food

admin
-
0
The costs of unsafe food

Two weeks ago, I picked up a friend from the airport who came to visit for 10 days. All was well, and we enjoyed spending time together, visiting friends and dining out. Until one evening she was struck by food poisoning and she became very ill indeed in a very short period of time. We went to a clinic where she was given an IV treatment to rehydrate her and after some lab test she was given medication to deal with the cause. Until the evening of departure however, she remained ill and very weak indeed. As a result, a large part of her visit was spoilt, and a considerable amount of money was spent on medical costs. Now, this is the experience of only one person, and imagine the medical and economic costs caused by unsafe food at a larger scale, also in the perspective of the current high incidence of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD).
A large proportion of these costs could be avoided by adopting preventive measures that improve how food is handled. The economic cost of unsafe food varies according to the level of economic development. It is important to recognize the need for effective investment, a better understanding of the cost of reducing unsafe food, and the achievable impact on the country’s food security, public health, and economy. Any food safety standards that are developed and implemented have associated costs for governments, industry and consumers. Nonetheless, the economic benefit and public health cost reduction resulting from reliable food safety systems outweigh the cost of food safety investment. Government not only needs to invest in food safety, but also invest strategically. This means investing in foundational knowledge, human resources, and infrastructure; realizing synergies among investments in food safety, human health, and environmental protection; and using public investment to leverage private investment. A transparent and constructive dynamic between food safety authorities and the food industry is fundamental in enabling public confidence in the food supply. The assurance of reliable and effective enforcement of regulation is fundamental to building a credible system. However, it is important to seek a productive balance between enforcement and facilitation and support to value chain actors to meet requirements to achieve their full potential. The public sector needs to put in place a set of enabling policies and provide public goods that create the enabling environment to foster private sector investment. The public sector can also support clustering of agribusinesses within specific geographic areas (e.g. technology parks) with assured infrastructure and access to output and input markets. Investment flows into value chains in which small-holder producers and processors are involved (e.g. as raw material suppliers) can be stimulated by improving coordination in the chain through strengthening groups that bring these actors together, while also building their technical and managerial capacity to meet market requirements.
In previous decades, government and donor investments in food safety in low and middle-income countries often focused on exports and formal sector food production and retail. This was driven by the economic benefits of export and the belief that modernization of the food system would improve productivity and deliver safer food and more benefits to workers. While both export sectors and formal food businesses remain key to many
countries’ development strategies, recent years have seen increasing evidence of the huge health and economic burdens falling on domestic consumers who primarily access food, especially perishable, higher-nutrient produce, from informal outlets and distribution channels. A broad-based food safety strategy is needed which gives balanced attention to trade and domestic matters, and, for the latter, covering food safety risks in formal and informal markets. Food safety has complex bidirectional linkages with nutrition, livelihoods and equity. For example, unsafe food is associated with stunting and malnutrition and predisposes people to gastro-intestinal illness and affects the most vulnerable people who have limited food choices and often rely on informal markets. Concerns about food safety may push people away from fresh produce and towards low-nutrient, highly processed foods, with adverse long-term health consequences. In low and middle -income countries, hundreds of millions of people, many of them women, depend on food production, processing, and retail for their livelihoods. Wherever possible, food safety interventions should act to secure rather than threaten these livelihoods.
The image of Ethiopia has changed much over the past few decades, from a country struck by drought and starvation, to a country with substantial economic growth and capable to deal with the challenges of climate change and related risks. We receive more visitors than ever before, including tourists but even more delegates from organizations and foreign countries that come and attend international meetings in the capital of the Africa Union. We don’t want that image to be weakened by illness, food waste and rejects because of unsafe food production and consumption.

Source and for more background reading:
https://www.who.int/food-safety/international-food-safety-conference/background-documents/
ton.haverkort@gmail.com

Human nature through a capitalist lens

admin
-
0
Human nature through a capitalist lens

What’s most remarkable about the concentration of economic power in the hands of a few corporate players in each industry is how little public angst it has generated, at least in the United States, over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While the labor unions’ struggles against corporate power were bitterly fought, they never attracted a majority of the workforce to their cause. Although there have also been occasional populist uprisings challenging the unbridled corporate control exercised over the economic life of society, the most recent being the Occupy Movement, with its rallying cry of the 99 percent versus the 1 percent, such outbursts have generally been few and far between and led to only mild regulatory reforms that did little to curb the concentration of power.

To some extent, the criticism was muted because these large, vertically integrated corporate enterprises succeeded in bringing ever-cheaper products and services to the market, spawned millions of jobs, and improved the standard of living of working people throughout the industrial world. There is, however, an additional and more subtle factor at play that has proven to be every bit as effective in dampening potential public opposition. The First and Second Industrial Revolutions brought with them an all-encompassing world view that legitimized the economic system by suggesting that its workings are a reflection of the way nature itself is organized and, therefore, unimpeachable.

The practice of legitimizing economic paradigms by creating grand cosmological narratives to accompany them is an age-old practice. Contemporary historians point to St. Thomas Aquinas’s description of creation as a “Great Chain of Being” during the feudal era as a good example of the process of framing a cosmology that legitimizes the existing social order. Aquinas argued that the proper workings of nature depend on a labyrinth of obligations among God’s creatures. While each creature differs in intellect and capabilities, the diversity and inequality is essential to the orderly functioning of the overall system. If all creatures were equal, St. Thomas Aquinas reasoned, than they could not act for the advantage of others. By making each creature different, God established a hierarchy of obligations in nature that, if faithfully carried out, allowed the “Creation” to flourish.

St. Thomas Aquinas’s description of God’s creation bears a striking resemblance to the way feudal society was set up: everyone’s individual survival depended on them faithfully performing their duties within a rigidly defined social hierarchy. Serfs, knights, lords, and the pope were all unequal in degree and kind but obligated to serve others by the feudal bonds of fealty. The performance of their duties according to their place on the hierarchy paid homage to the perfection of God’s creation.

The late historian Robert Hoyt of the University of Minnesota summed up the mirror relationship between the organization of feudal society and the Great Chain of Being “the basic idea that the created universe was a hierarchy, in which all created beings were assigned a proper rank and station, was congenial with the feudal notion of status within the feudal hierarchy, where every member had his proper rank with its attendant rights and duties.”

The cosmology of the Protestant Reformation that accompanied the soft proto-industrial revolution of the late medieval era performed a similar legitimizing role. Martin Luther launched a frontal attack on the Church’s notion of the Great Chain of Being, arguing that it legitimized the corrupt hierarchal rule of the Pope and the Papal Administration over the lives of the faithful. The Protestant theologian replaced the Church’s feudal cosmology with a worldview centered on the personal relationship of each believer with Christ. The democratization of worship fit well with the new communication/energy matrix that was empowering the new burgher class.

Martin Luther accused the Pope of being the Antichrist and warned that the Catholic Church was neither God’s chosen emissary on Earth nor the anointed intermediary by which the faithful could communicate with the Lord. Nor could Church leaders legitimately claim the power to intercede with God on behalf of their parishioners and assure salvation in the next world.

Instead, Martin Luther called for the priesthood of all believers. He argued that each man and woman stands alone before God. Armed with the Bible, every Christian had a personal responsibility to interpret the word of God, without relying on Church authority to decipher the meaning of the text and assume the role of gatekeeper to heaven. Martin Luther’s admonition spawned the first mass-literacy campaign in world history, as converts to Protestantism quickly learned to read in order to interpret God’s word in the Bible.

Martin Luther also changed the rules for salvation. The Church had long taught that performing good works along with receiving the Church’s sacraments would help secure a place in heaven for believers. Martin Luther, by contrast, argued that one can’t win a place in heaven by racking up good works on Earth. Rather, according to Martin Luther, one’s ultimate fate is sealed at the very get-go, that every individual is either elected to salvation or damned at birth by God. But then the question is: how does one live with the terrible anxiety of not knowing what awaits him? Luther’s answer was that accepting one’s calling in life and performing one’s role fully and without a lapse might be a sign that one had been elected to salvation.

John Calvin went a step further, calling on his followers to continuously work at improving their lot in life as a sign of possible election. By contending that each individual was duty-bound to improve his or her calling, Protestant theologians unwittingly lent theological support to the new spirit of entrepreneurialism. Implicit was the assumption that bettering one’s economic lot was a reflection of one’s proper relationship with God and the natural order.

Although neither Martin Luther nor John Calvin had any intention of despiritualizing the faithful and creating “homo economicus”, eventually the idea of improving one’s calling became indistinguishable from improving one’s economic fortunes. The new emphasis on diligence, hard work, and frugality metamorphosed over the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries into the more economically laden term of being “more productive.” Self-worth became less about being of good character in the eyes of God and more about being productive in the new market exchange economy.

In time, the idea of each person standing alone with their Lord began to take a back seat to the notion of each person standing alone in the marketplace. Self-worth was now to be measured by self-interest, which, in turn, was measured by the accumulation of property and wealth by cunning dealings in the new market economy. Max Weber referred to this process that created the new man and woman of the market as “the Protestant work ethic.”

The new commercial zeal spilled over, bringing increasing numbers of Catholics and others into the market fold. Where previously one’s place on the rungs of the Great Chain of Being that made up God’s creation had defined one’s life journey in the feudal era, the new autonomous individual of the soft market economy came to define his journey by the amassing of private property in the marketplace.

Name: Solomon Amera

admin
-
0
Name: Solomon Amera

Education: Diploma

Company Name: Solo Printing & Advertising

Title: Owner

Founded in: 2006 E.C

What it does: Printing & Signage works

Headquarters: Addis Ababa

Startup capital: 50,000 birr

Current capital: 2,500,000 birr

Number of Employees: 7

Reason for Starting the business: I love creative works

Biggest perk of ownership: Not being dependent on anyone

Biggest strength: Providing a good quality product

Biggest challenge: Finance

Plan: To build the biggest company

First Career: Employee in a photo printing shop

Most interested in meeting: Business influencers

Most admired person: Mihiret Debebe

Stress reducer: Focusing on the other things that I received from God

Favorite book: “Yemidrebedaw Eregna”

Favorite pastime: Helping others

Favorite destination: Malta

Favorite automobile: Mercedes Benz

1...1,5221,5231,524...4,133Page 1,523 of 4,133

EDITOR PICKS

Balancing Risks

Arresting Journalists Is Never the Solution

World Must End Silence

POPULAR POSTS

POPULAR CATEGORY

ABOUT US

 

Capital is the longest-established private English newspaper in Ethiopia

Contact us: info@capitalethiopia.com

+251911637862 | +251944732300 | +251116183253
 

FOLLOW US

© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv