The environmental footprint of a person’s yearly use of euro banknotes is equivalent to driving 8 km by car, or 0.01% of an individual's total carbon consumption, according to a study by European financial authorities.
The study measures the potential environmental impact of all activities in a full cycle of euro banknotes - from raw material acquisition, manufacturing, distribution and circulation, to disposal by euro area national central banks (NCBs).
The main factors contributing to the environmental footprint of euro banknotes as a means of payment are the energy consumption of automated teller machines (ATMs) and transportation, followed by processing by NCBs, paper manufacturing and the authentication of banknotes in shops.
European Central Bank board member Piero Cipollone, comments: “The Eurosystem is committed to making euro banknotes as environmentally friendly as possible, while ensuring cash is widely available and accepted.”
Since 2004 the Eurosystem has made efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of euro banknotes, for example by using only 100% sustainable cotton and banning the disposal of banknote waste in landfill.
In addition, ATM manufacturers and banks have made progress in reducing the environmental impact of their machines. The study shows that improvements in the energy efficiency of ATMs contributed to a 35% decrease in their environmental footprint between 2004 and 2019.