Banknote circulation in Germany has a small environmental footprint. This is the result of a study commissioned by the Deutsche Bundesbank which examines the environmental impact of the issuance, distribution, use and disposal of euro banknotes. The annual use of euro banknotes in Germany per capita is roughly as harmful to the environment as a five-kilometre car journey. In other words, the annual per capita environmental footprint of banknotes in circulation amounts to around 0.0078 % of the total annual environmental impact made by a single person in Germany. The study confirms that the Bundesbank, along with the other actors in the banknote cycle, is well on track in terms of environmental sustainability.

The environmental footprint of the average adult’s annual cash payments in Germany was also determined. It amounted to 80 micropoints (µPt) in the reference year 2019. The powering of ATMs had the greatest environmental impact (at 40 % of the overall score), followed by banknote transport (32 %) and euro banknote processing (23 %). By contrast, the disposal of old banknotes improved the environmental balance slightly (minus 0.5 %), since the banknotes are incinerated at the end of their life cycle and energy is recovered. The environmental footprint is a method of measuring how sustainable a product is. It was developed by the European Commission.

The study highlights ways in which environmental sustainability can be further improved. These include, for example, using more energy-efficient ATMs and increasing the use of electricity from renewable energy sources. The study also proposes using electric vehicles for transporting banknotes. This is currently not yet feasible, mainly due to the heavy weight of the vehicles. The results of the study will be incorporated into the Bundesbank’s plans to make the cash cycle not only safe and efficient but also environmentally sustainable.

The study was conducted by consulting firm ESU-services. It is based on the European Central Bank’s 2023 study on the environmental impact of euro banknotes, but focuses only on the German cash cycle. The results for Germany are consistent with the ECB’s finding for the euro area that banknotes have only a small environmental impact.