Reducing waste isn’t a one-man show
True sustainability in the cash cycle can only be achieved through systemic, collaborative change. New innovations that can be used across the entire value chain, such as the NotaTrays, take a significant step towards waste reduction in the currency industry.
A reusable product that replaces single-use plastic and offers a longer lifespan helps to reduce significant waste. Going a step further, a versatile, standardized product like the NotaTray®, which can be used in cash operations across the entire industry, represents a transformative step towards true sustainability, while also increasing efficiency and security. The cash cycle is slowly becoming more sustainable, by applying a long-term approach not just to banknote processing systems, but to all products and services, and thereby moving towards a more circular economic model.
In order to truly become sustainable, a company must question the fundamentals and ask why it is done this way – for example, can we transport banknotes without single-use plastic bags?
Christian Huber, Head of Business and Product Management – Business Line High-Speed Processing Systems at G+D Currency Technology
Sustainable change must be actively pursued
Christian Huber, Head of Business and Product Management – Business Line High-Speed Processing Systems at G+D, stresses that sustainability has become a key consideration, not only in the development of new products, but holistically. “We in the cash industry must take waste reduction seriously and find solutions that satisfy the idea of efficiency and at the same time promote the idea of sustainability,” he said. “Our upgradable, modular and platform-based high-speed banknote processing systems allow our customers to keep them up to date, which vastly extends their lifespan. But to go beyond this, to support our customers in their efforts and become truly sustainable, we must question the fundamental norms and processes of our industry.”
Such a focus at G+D led to the development of the NotaTrays, which are reusable boxes used to securely transport loose banknotes. The National Westminster Bank in the UK began using the standardized NotaTrays, together with the automated NotaTray® Loading module in 2017, and since then have increased throughput by over 20%. The bank has also reduced hands on cash thanks to intelligent automation and produced significantly less waste by circulating a reusable container rather than single-use plastic.
Dave Lea, Operational Development Manager at NatWest, says that other carriers, in addition to Loomis UK, have committed to start using the trays in the UK and that he is expecting a full rollout to happen soon. “Our company is committed to reducing our carbon footprint and innovating collaboratively with our partners to achieve this,” he added.
Working towards a collaborative model of the future
This case study exemplifies that sustainability does not have to come at the cost of efficiency or security, particularly when actors across the value chain work together. The trays can be used by banks and cash-in-transit (CIT) companies inside cash centers, but also for transport between cash centers. This not only reduces the use of single-use plastic along the entire value chain, but also saves time needed for packing and unpacking banknotes and preparing them for processing. Christian Huber believes that players in the cash cycle must grow closer together in order to adopt sustainable solutions and practices and to ensure that the currency industry undergoes a fundamental mindset shift.
“The NotaTrays provide standardization, which is the key to a new collaborative model – a model that is significantly innovating the cash cycle to attain our vision of a ‘no-hands-on-cash’ operation. Only with such collaboration can the cash cycle achieve end-to-end sustainable solutions, which also balance efficiency and cost-effectiveness.”
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Logistics standardization with NotaTray® pays off
Learn how intelligent automation goes hand in hand with efficiency and sustainability at National Westminster Bank
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