Biobanknote – the Colombian developer of solutions for composting banknotes and banknote waste – is planning to carry out a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) to evaluate the manufacturing and use of banknotes compared with digital transactions, in accordance with the internationally recognised standards ISO 14067 and ISO 14040.
The aim is to allow a fair comparison so that the public can make informed decisions when making payment choices.
The systems for managing cash in circulation in most countries, both physical and digital, are similar, however, each presents its own particularities that must be taken into account as inputs for the study.
This LCA will consider the entire cycle of cash payments – including the extraction, production and acquisition of raw materials, circulation, recycling, treatment at the end of life, and final disposal – so that a comparison side by side with digital payments can be done considering all the activities consuming energy. For the latter, these include the electronic equipment to the servers that house the databases of commercial banks, private companies and apps for digital payments.
The analysis aims to identify and measure all GHG emissions associated with the stages of the banknote life cycle compared to those of digital transactions. Biobanknote hopes it will help organisations to understand environmental impacts by offering information based on good data to improve sustainability practices, optimise the use of resources and align operations within the framework of the circular economy and the objectives of global climate change control.
The study would be conducted by Biobanknote as expert in these matters, with the work reviewed by an international auditing company. It would be carried out in accordance with Colombian norms under the frame of environmental technical standards NTC ISO 14067 and NTC ISO 14040, to be easily verified by third parties and to be compared with similar international evaluations.
The approach of the work is concentrated on the analysis of the impact on climate change through the carbon footprint for the two options.
Biobanknote’s proposal will use as reference relevant information obtained from the Central Bank of Colombia and from some interested raw material supply companies. Colombia remains, for the second consecutive year, the only central bank that has obtained Carbon Neutral status. It has, therefore, very precise information about this matter.
The estimated time frame for the execution of this work is between three and four months.
