I have data on that too!!
According to a study the Bank of England commissioned in 2017, 1000 new polymer notes have a carbon footprint of…
Well actually let me copy and paste a table:
(Which is CO2 per 1000 notes, over a 10 year lifecycle).
The “Inc Circulation” line includes distribution, assumed to be via cash machines - which accounts for the operating costs of ATMs, while the excluding one, I assume is just the manufacturing and eventual disposal.
So 1 note = 30g of Carbon to manufacture, but they expect to have a 3 times as long a useable life than a paper note.
Interestingly the £10 note has a way higher carbon footprint when you include distribution, due to the fact they are distributed more often in ATMs.
Link here, if you fancy any night time reading: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/banknotes/polymer/carbon-footprint-assessment.pdf?la=en&hash=A2077D4BEF302DF8F8488503DEA041876627ECBD
66 pages of bank note chat ^