Im sorry .. i have never heard of that. I cant see them recycling notes like that, but i guess it is possible. Can i ask where did you hear that?
In Europe, they shread currency, especially old pre-Euro bank notes and bury it, using it for fertilizer in agriculture. Mark Coral Springs, FL
If you stop by any FRB Visitor's center, they hand out free samples of shredded currency. Don't know if they all still do it, but I was at the Chicago one this past year and they had lots to hand out. The BEP has a process where you can receive shredded currency to recycle into your product. There are requirements and approval must be granted for your use. http://www.moneyfactory.gov/section.cfm/8/40
So, you can't recycle it, can't burn it, can't use it for insulation, can't export it, can't eat it..... Gee, what can we do with shredded fiat currency?
Here's a link to the BEP's website that gives the requirements for using recycled currency. http://www.moneyfactory.gov/section.cfm/8/40 Considering that currency "paper" is made from cotton and flax fibers rather than wood and hold up better than wood I would think there would be many uses for the shredded $$$ http://www.cointalk.org/images/icons/icon7.gif
They shred it and make notepads out of them. I have several pads. THAT is a sad fate for our currency.
Actually I would question that theory. Yes, the Fed claims to sort, verify, and send back to the mint for destruction any uncurrent coins. Yet, ask any coin roll hunter and they will tell you all the anecdotal evidence that the Fed's don't do that. The amount of foriegn, tokens, and garbage in general in our us coin rolls is astounding. The only verification done is by the bank accepting loose coins. Once that full bag is sealed and shipped, it is merely sliced open and dumped into a Glory WR100 coin wrapping machine. If there's a penny in that bag of halves, well someone's going to be paying 50¢ for that penny. Ask all the penny searchers how many dimes they find a week. Often enough, penny searchers are being paid for the wheats that they find. Now, our country went to all new coins in 1965. They public has voluntarily removed from circulation just about all coins dated 1964 or older. As a result, it has been decades since any bank has provided the public service of removing worn coins from circulation and shipping them to the Fed as such. the Fed still has a procedure in place for handling worn out coins, but I doubt there's a bank that has used it in the last 30 years. Now that I'm starting to see worn out clad coins, what will it take to get banks to start performing this service again?
Back in early 1980's I had the painting contract at 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza in N.Y. Our paint shop was on the 61st. floor next to the incinerator room. One day when we went to the shop there was a few people in the burning room. One of them asked us if we would like to see 3 million dollars stacked up on a table. It was quite a sight. All the bills were cancelled and then they would place them in the furance, after that they would place a lead seal on the door and inspect the ashes the next day. If any thing was not totaly burned the would start the fire again. The reason they gave us for burning as the dust from shredding in the early 80's was affecting the people that was doing the shedding. Now that 20 years have passed I am not sure how they destroy old money now. I am sure if they now shred they should have good maskes to protect the workers from the dust.
