Singapore stops issuing ‘good as new’ dollar notes for Lunar New Year to cut carbon emissions

The good-as-new notes, introduced in 2013, are generally crisp and new-looking. Most are only used for gifting and returned to the central bank

Fit-for-gifting dollar notes are used currency notes clean and devoid of stains and tears, though they may have visible creases on the surface

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Singapore’s central bank said it will stop producing and issuing “good-as-new” notes in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. Photo: EPA

Published: 3:46pm, 7 Dec 2022Updated: 3:47pm, 7 Dec 2022

Singapore’s central bank will encourage people to use “fit-for-gifting” dollar notes for festive gifting during Lunar New Year next month, and will stop producing and issuing “good-as-new” notes in an effort to reduce carbon emissions, the central bank said on Tuesday.

The good-as-new notes are dollar notes that are issued in S$2 (US$1.47) denominations during the Lunar New Year period. People celebrating the festival usually place money in a hongbao (red packet) to give away as gifts.

The good-as-new notes, first introduced in 2013, are generally crisp and new-looking when issued, which are what most people want during Lunar New Year, in line with the tradition to have everything new for the new year.

These notes are collected and returned to the central bank right after the Lunar New Year period and processed twice to ensure that only the notes that are of very good quality are reissued as good-as-new notes the following year.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore said ‘fit-for-gifting’ notes were a more environmentally friendly choice. Photo: Bloomberg

“The additional round of machine processing for good-as-new notes generates additional carbon emissions (comparable to the emissions for powering 32 four-room government-built flats yearly), making fit-for-gifting notes a more environmentally friendly choice compared to good-as-new notes,” the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said.