Bank of England to Replace Animal Fat with Palm Oil in New £20 Notes
Above: No new polymer bank note contains more animal fat than that being thrust into a pot of chicken curry by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney at Whitecross Street Market in London. Picture Credit: Reuters/Stefan Wermuth/Bank of England.
The Bank of England’s review into the composition of its new generation of polymer bank notes has confirmed a shift away from the use of polymer which contains animal derivatives.
Instead, the Bank is likely to opt for a polymer which has palm oil as a constituent.
The Bank was forced into a review of its new series of notes after religious, vegan and vegetarian groups complained vigourously to the news the new £5 notes contained traces of animal derivatives.
“The only practical alternative to animal-derived additives is additives derived from palm oil, which offers a mature supply chain and is available at reasonable cost,” say the Bank of England in a note released on March 30.
We can already picture environmentalists sitting up in their chairs on the news - palm oil is an incredibly contentious subject in environmental circles owing to the rampant destruction of tropical jungle required to make way for palm oil plantations.
A concerted campaign by environmental groups to pressure corporations to divest themselves from so-called conflict palm oil has increased in tempo over recent years.
But, the Bank appears to have seen this next potential ethical headache coming and has stressed that any palm oil sourced for new notes will have adequate certification.
“There are a number of identified environmental impacts,” says the Bank. “These can be potentially mitigated by the Bank’s suppliers acquiring additives that meet an associated certification standard for environmentally sustainable production.”
The Bank has commissioned an independent report on the environmental impact of a range of additives from a consultancy firm, Efeca.
The changes will only be applicable to the new series of £20 notes which will feature JMW Turner.
Existing £5 will continue to hold traces of animal fats in their polymer constituents.
The changes also come to late to alter the composition of the next series of £10 notes which will feature Jane Austin.
