Study on the environmental impact of euro banknotes

The European Central Bank today published an environmental footprint study of euro banknotes as a payment instrument. It shows that the average environmental footprint for payments with banknotes was 101 micropoints (µPt) per euro area citizen in 2019. This is equivalent to driving a car for 8 km, or 0.01% of the total environmental impact of a euro area citizen’s annual consumption activities.

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 final disposal, which is the responsibility of the national central banks in the euro area. The main factors contributing to the environmental footprint of euro banknotes as a means of payment are the energy consumption of ATMs and transportation, followed by processing by the national central banks, paper manufacturing, and the authentication of banknotes in shops.

The Eurosystem is committed to making euro banknotes as environmentally friendly as possible, while ensuring cash is widely available and accepted.

More information can be found on the ECB website and in the Environmental footprint study of euro banknotes as a payment instrument.