SICPA –Implementation of a Product Sustainability Framework

The implementation of a Product Sustainability Framework (PSF) was initiated in response to growing customer interest in improving the sustainability of the cash cycle. Rooted in SICPA’s culture of accountability, trust, and collaboration, our PSF is based on best practices in the chemical industry and provides a structured assessment methodology. It enables an objective evaluation of the environmental and social impacts of products and solutions across their entire life cycle.

Developed through alignment with internal and external stakeholders, the PSF reflects the importance of key sustainability dimensions and now guides the development and deployment of all SICPA products and solutions. The framework spans four dimensions, focusing not only on product composition (dimensions 1 and 2) but also on the effects at customers’ premises (dimension 3) and on the wider cash cycle (dimension 4). It supports our ambition to deliver concrete, actionable solutions for a more sustainable cash ecosystem. The four dimensions and associated goals are:

1.Product Safety: Protect the health of stakeholders across the value chain and the environment by rigorously selecting and managing raw materials, anticipating regulatory changes, and ensuring smooth transitions for customers.

2.Increased Use of Biorenewable Materials: Reduce reliance on fossil resources by integrating more renewable raw materials into our products.

3.Banknote Production Efficiency: Enable efficient material and energy use, reduced drying times and waste, and lower VOC emissions at client facilities.

4.Banknote Lifecycle Optimisation: Enhance banknote durability and provide machine‑readable features that improve sorting and handling, ultimately strengthening the entire cash cycle.

PSF is an internal program that was developed to support our overall Research & Innovation efforts. It was created in Switzerland and serves all our customers worldwide. It has been detailed to more than 40 central banks and security printers in over 30 countries in addition to the dedicated presentations made in conferences in EMEA region, Asia and South America over the last 24 months.

SICPA’s four‑pillar Product Sustainability Framework (PSF) defines a holistic approach to product sustainability for banknote security technologies. Rather than viewing “product sustainability” as a single attribute, the PSF evaluates products across four complementary dimensions—product safety, use of biorenewable materials, banknote production efficiency, and banknote lifecycle optimisation. Together, these pillars create a robust sustainability architecture tailored to the specific challenges of the banknote industry.

To the best of our knowledge, this PSF represents the first structured Product Sustainability Assessment methodology applied to security inks in the banknote sector.  It serves as a powerful lever for responsible innovation. Banknotes combine complex chemical formulations, coatings, and substrates, making it essential to understand their sustainability profile in a systematic way. Our PSF helps to identify hotspots, reduce hazardous substances, optimise material efficiency, and develop more durable or lower impact solutions.

Beyond internal benefits, our PSF enhances trust and understanding with customers, regulators, and stakeholders by demonstrating a proactive and credible commitment to sustainability. It enables clear communication on product sustainability benefits and limitations and facilitates evidence-based decision making to support the individual strategies of security printers and central banks.

Our PSF is more than a simple assessment tool, it is a strategic driver for innovation, competitiveness, and long-term value creation. This is exemplified by the launch of the 3VF offset ink series—fully mineral‑oil‑free, with approximately 60% biorenewable content and excellent drying performance across substrates. Already industrialised and deployed on circulating notes, it demonstrates the real‑world impact and readiness of our sustainability‑driven approach.

Cash is a vital component of a fair and sustainable society. More than a mere transaction tool, it is a social good that promotes inclusion, builds trust, and contributes to economic stability. To preserve this essential role and address the environmental challenges of our times, sustainability must be integrated into all stages of the cash lifecycle, from production, to circulation, through to end-of-life.

Taking sustainability into account when selecting products or solutions (e.g. security features) is however made complex by the number of parameters that come into play: while it would be ideal to develop products that are fully safe, fully renewable, providing the best printing performance and an optimal cash cycle behavior, it is in practice very difficult to align all these dimensions at once. It is therefore very important for printers and central banks to have a clear and understandable view of the sustainability dimensions that may or may not be addressed by a given product or solution.

Our framework tackles this complexity by providing a clear definition and assessment of the different dimensions of sustainability. It is complemented by a simple and visual way of identifying the dimensions that are relevant for a given product. The four colored pictograms that are now used when communicating with our customers help them to align their product selection with their sustainability strategies.

Our PSF is an effective way to support our ambition to transition our product portfolio towards more sustainable solutions. To this effect, we have developed internal Key Performance Indicators that measure the share of so-called “more sustainable” products sold, i.e. products that are bringing advantages in terms of sustainability compared to our internal benchmark.

Metrics are based on two levels, with a clear priority given to product safety. We first track the percentage of so-called “challenged” products, i.e. products that would be below the expected product safety standards applicable in the printing industry. The ambitious targets we have set internally have allowed us to drastically reduce the volumes of challenged products used by our customers, even when their own standards would have allowed the continuation of their use. As an example, we have successfully driven the transition of offset and intaglio inks to cobalt and octoate-free (COF) versions with the vast majority of our customers while maintaining the highest levels of performance and quality.

Secondly, we track the overall percentage of products sold, which in addition to product safety, have at least one other sustainability benefit, with the goal of improving this proportion over time. While this information is not being shared publicly yet, we see it as a significant lever to making cash production and distribution more sustainable in the future.

Sustainability is deeply rooted in our heritage, values and long-term vision. We are committed to continuous improvement, evolving our approach through innovation and close collaboration with all stakeholders. By aligning with internationally recognised frameworks—including the United Nations Global Compact Principles, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the International Currency Association Sustainability Charter— we aim to contribute meaningfully to a more sustainable world.

As part of our ESG strategy, we conducted a materiality assessment that enabled us to identify ten key sustainability priorities. Among them, “Environmentally friendly and safe products and technologies” and “Sustainable innovation and solutions” are central. The development and implementation of our Product Sustainability Framework (PSF) directly support these priorities by providing a structured, systematic way to characterize and communicate the sustainability benefits brought by our products and solutions.

The PSF has reinforced the pivotal role sustainability plays in guiding our innovation and development efforts. Guided by regular and valuable customer feedback—and as expectations continue to evolve—we are committed to expanding the framework to incorporate additional relevant dimensions and emerging industry best practices. This includes, for example, integrating product‑level carbon footprints, which customers increasingly request.