Date the Program was Implemented/Released
01/10/2024
Project/Program Description
BEES® is engineered to estimate the environmental impact of banknotes. It was developed based on Orell Füssli’s expertise in Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) accumulated over the years. Orell Füssli had the opportunity to participate in LCA studies for both the 8th and 9th Swiss banknote series, and over time, these assessments enabled Orell Füssli to collect significant environmental data, refine its sustainability practices, and establish a new, design-integrated approach to environmental assessment.
With BEES®, the Banknote Environmental Evaluation Software, Orell Füssli offers a consulting service to Central Banks, assessing a banknote’s environmental impact during the design process. As a result, a Central Bank receives a modular estimation of the environmental impact based on the functional design of the banknote.
BEES® simplifies the evaluation of the environmental impact of various design choices during the design stage, without the need for a lengthy and costly Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). BEES® provides a user-friendly graphical interface to select and showcase materials and security features on a banknote, along with their environmental impact. Based on proven and tested data sets, BEES® generates a variety of environmental impact indicators. Variants of banknotes under development can be compared with each other, previous series, or even external LCA results.
This tool marks a paradigm shift in our industry: from reactive analysis to forward-looking design. It provides the transparency and agility needed to enhance sustainability within industry, while maintaining the rigorous demands of high-security printing.
Country/Countries of Implementation:
Confidential information
Innovative, unique, and/or inventive aspects of the project/program
In the design phase of a banknote, the criteria are set by the Central Bank and then translated into possible banknote designs, including the features necessary to fulfil these criteria. A wide range of design and feature selection are possible for any given tenders with the given requirements. This is also true for the environmental footprint. The main advantage of Orell Füssli’s new tool BEES® is its ability to accompany the design process and easily deliver an environmental assessment of the developing banknote design. Most questions regarding the environmental effects of features and their extension into a specific operating environment can be answered, often even on the spot.
How does a change of lifetime translate into an environmental footprint? What is the environmental effect of varnishing the banknote, adding polymers or, strengthening fibres, or using alternative substrates? Such decisions are major influencing factors for the overall footprint.
The method and tool Orell Füssli created allows to anticipate the environmental impact of design decisions, allowing the Central Bank to optimize its environmental footprint. With BEES®, Central Banks are empowered to make informed choices during critical stages, particularly in the design phase, where decisions have the most substantial impact. Furthermore, it establishes a foundational framework for subsequent analysis and improvement endeavors. This way, Central Banks can seamlessly integrate comparable sustainability evaluations into tender processes, facilitating fair and transparent assessments, thereby enhancing overall sustainability practices within the security printing sector.
The result, a Central Banks receives, is a modular LCA estimation, based on the functional design of a banknote. A Central Bank can compare different designs or variants of the same design within minutes. Designs can be altered by adding or removing features and directly seeing the environmental impact on the final product.
Environmental sustainability challenge/problem
The challenge was clear: how to provide Central Banks with the means to evaluate the environmental consequences of their banknotes quickly and reliably before they have even been produced. BEES® meets this challenge head-on by providing an intuitive and rapid assessment of the environmental impact associated with different design choices, all without the complexities and cost of a full-blown LCA.
Level of Expected/Proven impact on Environment
When comparing to actual data from known products, the modelled impact and the measured impact differ by up to around 3% for tested products. The actual deviation differs from feature to feature. As such, the results are reliable enough to model the impact of a banknote without the need for a lengthy and costly LCA while providing similar benefits.
Organization’s commitment to environmental sustainability
By providing valuable insights early in the banknote conceptual phase, we at Orell Füssli positively influence sustainability across the industry—well beyond our direct role as a security printer. Our longstanding ambition has always been to conduct business in an environmentally friendly manner. Orell Füssli continually improves its processes and products, enabling sustainable development at every stage. Waste prevention, recycling, careful use of resources, and the promotion of public transport are integrated into our daily operations. Environmental factors are systematically evaluated whenever we review new projects.
We also require our suppliers to adhere to strict standards of corporate responsibility and environmental respect. The entire Orell Füssli Group is committed to long-term strategic sustainability management. Since 2022, the Group has published an annual sustainability report in line with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, highlighting the non-financial aspects of our business.
