THE bank notes many of us receive at Chinese New Year next month will still be as crisp as tradition demands but some might not be mint-fresh new.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that it will issue "good as new" $2 notes alongside brand new ones as part of an environmental initiative. These are clean and crisp notes that were retrieved immediately after the Lunar New Year.

MAS explained that it prints and issues 100 million $2 polymer notes to the banks each year, but only half of the new $2 notes issued are required to meet normal circulation demand. The printing of the excess $2 notes uses enough electricity to power up one HDB block for six months.

New notes and "good as new" notes will be available from Jan 21.