Vegans force Bank to rethink plastic notes

THE Bank of England has bowed to pressure from vegans and will try to remove animal fats from plastic £20 notes, due in three years.

The Bank faced criticism when it emerged that tallow – made from animal fat – was used to produce the new £5, the first in a series of polymer notes to be released in September last year.

As a result officials will launch a consultation next month on the production process for the polymer £20 note, due to be introduced in 2020, which could see tallow replaced with palm or coconut oil. However palm oil is controversial as environmentalists blame palm plantations for destroying ecosystems.

The Bank says it will not withdraw the fiver and it is too late to cancel the introduction of the plastic £10 note this year as 275 million have been printed.

Withdrawing the fivers would waste the £46 million spent on printing them, as well as incurring the same cost again. It would also mean reverting to the older paper notes, which are more prone to counterfeiting, the Bank said. Cashpoints, self-service checkouts and other machines have already been adapted for the polymer notes.

“An extremely small amount of tallow is used in an early stage of the production process,” the Bank said. It will continue to work closely with suppliers to explore alternatives.