Briquettes are now made from notes in Nepal

Did you burn briquettes during the winter? You may have burned briquettes for cooking or other household purposes, but you may not know that briquettes are made from notes.

Also, do you like to light a fire by burning briquettes made of notes? If you feel like it, you can burn briquettes made from notes.

You may not believe this news immediately! But, this is not bad news. Nepal Rastra Bank is going to make briquettes for the management of old and counterfeit notes. Central Bank has launched BSBS at its Biratnagar office. Banknote laundering has been brought into operation with the objective of modernization and mechanization. The central bank has dubbed it the Banknote Shredding and Briquetting System (BSBS).

Nepal Rastra Bank, Biratnagar office has started making briquettes by washing old notes. Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari formally inaugurated the work today.

According to the central bank, the governor inaugurated the BSBS machine by switching it on. As the notes which are considered unfit for circulation are being destroyed by burning, briquettes will be produced by using small type of BSBS machine and automatic technology. A new system of note management has been adopted in Nepal.

Governor Adhikari said that the launch of BSBS was an important achievement with the objective of making the performance of the bank modern and technology friendly. The NRB has stated that a study is being carried out on the possible use of briquettes to be prepared through BSBS. Governor Adhikari informed that the process of amending the notes laundering regulations and formulating working procedures to make BSBS systematic has reached the final stage.

Speaking on the occasion, Revati Prasad Nepal, Executive Director, Department of Currency Management, said that the operation of BSBS was new for Nepal. On the occasion, Parashuram Nepal, Chief of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Morang, said that the use of BSBS has modernized the money laundering system.

The BSBS machine prepares briquettes by breaking packets and bundles of all types of banknotes, including cotton and polymers. The machine has two sections. The first part is to break the note while the second part is to make briquettes from the broken note.

The machine can hold up to 200 kg banknotes at a time and the machine is capable of breaking 100 kg notes per hour. The average size of such a piece will be 6/6 millimeters. The briquettes can be prepared by processing the broken notes at the rate of 200 kg per hour. The BSBS machine can operate up to one thousand hours per year.

Such briquettes are believed to be useful in brick kilns, paper mills, coal used industries as well as for domestic purposes. The bank plans to operate the system by connecting the building under construction at Thapathali to Biratnagar, Janakpur, Birgunj, Pokhara, Siddharthnagar, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi offices. The machines are imported from the Netherlands.

The process of making necessary amendments in the prevailing rules regarding note laundering has also been taken forward so that the system of money laundering through BSBS can be managed in a policy manner. The BSBS system is expected to be environmentally friendly.