Bank of England supplier Innovia is currently in “active discussions” to develop an alternative additive which uses vegetable-based ingredients for use in the production of the new £5 note.
The bank confirmed recently that the new polymer £5 note, introduced in September, contains the animal product tallow. The revelation has caused concern amongst vegetarian and vegan groups, with one change.org petition to have the tallow removed from the bank notes receiving over 130,000 signatures.
A statement from Innovia said: “Innovia takes the current public concerns with the highest respect and seriousness. We are currently in active discussions with our suppliers for them to develop alternative additives using vegetable-based ingredients.
“Resins used to make polymer banknotes, which we source from suppliers, contain small amounts of additives that act as stabilisers, anti-block, anti-static or slip agents or as other functional processing aids. These additives, which are important for the final properties of the banknote and are commonly used across the plastics industry, make up less than 1% of the resin and will include tiny traces of tallow which are present in the resin at a level measured in parts per million,” the statement continued.
“We will continue to investigate and work with our suppliers to produce a sustainable solution.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
