Animal Fat vs Palm Oil [£20 note]

After a new £5 note was released fairly recently in the UK, there were a number of complaints among vegans and vegetarians due to the fact that they were made using animal fat. Now that a new £20 note is due to be released in 2020, the bank of England has considered using palm oil as a replacement. However, despite them doing this in an attempt to please the 134,000+ people who signed a petition against the use of animal fat, they have now sparked new outrage from people claiming that the use of palm oil will have a severely negative environmental impact.

Pro Animal Fat

Palm Oil deforestation

By using animal fat, no populations of wild animals or indigenous people will be affected as it is already a by-product from slaughterhouses. Animal fat is already used in thousands of products, in much larger quantities. According to the Humane Slaughter Association, approximately 2.6 million cattle are killed per year in the UK and yet the Bank of England estimates that the entire production of new £20 notes would only 'equate to the usage of tallow by-products from around 25-30 cattle'. An insignificant amount in comparison. Palm oil was responsible for 8% of the world's deforestation between 1990-2008. This act of deforestation releases large quantities of carbon pollution and is a major contributor to climate change. Deforestation for the sake of palm oil is responsible for bringing Sumatran orangutans to near extinction. It has also resulted in many indigenous people being brutally forced from their homes. Emma Keller, agriculture commodities manager at WWF, explained that palm oil comes at the 'expense of human rights and tropical forest'. 

Pro Palm Oil

Animal slaughter by-products

Although animal fat is found in thousands of products, people who oppose these products are able to avoid them. The £5 note makes it impossible for anybody to bypass the use of animal products. The use of palm oil will avoid offending a number of groups including vegans, vegetarians, hindus, sikhs and jains. The additional cost would only be £5 million over 10 years in addition to the £300 million already being spent. Similarly to animal fat, palm oil is already used in thousands of everyday products. The Bank has suggested that using palm oil as an alternative would only require 'one year's production of less than six hectares of palm oil plantation'. This would only be a tiny addition to the huge number of palm oil plantations that are already present. Despite speaking out against palm oil, Emma Keller stated that palm oil 'produces more oil per land than any other equivalent oil crop'. Using coconut oil would require more land space and could have a greater negative impact on the environment. Using animal fat would directly cost the lives of animals whereas the palm oil could be sourced from a sustainable plantation (RSPO). 

Why use either?

Doug Maw, who started the online petition against the use of animal fat in the £5 note, has also expressed disapproval for the idea of using palm oil, believing it is 'something they should avoid doing'. It would be possible for the bank to avoid using either of these products by sticking to the old design, however it has been shown that there are a number of advantages to polymer notes. It is thought that the polymer notes provide 'unique' anti-static and anti-slip properties and are more durable than paper notes. Professor David Solomon, developer of the first polymer note in 1988, also said that these notes are harder to forge, more hygienic, and don't require trees to be cut down. 

Only trace amounts of beef tallow are used (significantly less than 1%) and similar levels of palm oil would be required. Either way these notes will make an insignificant difference to the huge problems these products are already responsible for. 

More information:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/03/30/bank-england-backs-palm-oil-replace-animal-fat-plastic-20-note/
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/02/5-animal-fat-bank-note-british-vegetarians-being-stupid-says-inventor
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/new-5-notes-why-do-they-have-animal-fat-in-them-a7448106.html

Why should we avoid palm oil? 

http://www.ecowatch.com/why-is-palm-oil-so-bad-1881907014.html

Why should we avoid animal products? 

https://www.animalaid.org.uk/the-issues/our-campaigns/slaughter/