Rich soil – old £20 notes turned into compost for farmers

The seemingly endless rise in the cost of sprays and fertilisers can feel as though you’re throwing tonnes of cash on your crops – now that may literally be the case.

Billions of pounds-worth of the outgoing paper £20 notes are being turned into compost for agricultural use.

The Bank of England has started to destroy about £40bn-worth of the old paper banknotes, which are gradually being replaced by the new plastic ones put into circulation this week.

See also: Green compost lifts yields on Buckinghamshire farm

Since the early 2000s the organisation has recycled old bank notes by using a composting treatment, similar to the way food waste is converted.

As of 2011, all of the Bank’s paper-note waste has been turned into compost to improve the health of the nation’s farmland. Talk about rich soil.

If only the original value of all those rotted down paper £20s translated into your cash crops.