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Related Pages
Cash and sustainability
The environmental impact of euro banknotes and coins is a concern for all euro area central banks.
To this end, the Banco de Portugal and the other euro area central banks have taken several measures to ensure the prudent use of natural resources and protect human health in the production, distribution and circulation of euro banknotes.
The companies involved in the production of euro banknotes are certified with ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 international standards and therefore have environmental management systems and occupational health and safety management systems in place to assess and control the impact of their activities on the environment and the wellbeing of the workers involved in the production process.
Euro banknotes are manufactured using fibres from spinning cotton for yarn or for use in the textile industry that would otherwise go to waste. From 2014 onwards, sustainable cotton fibres have been progressively incorporated, i.e. cotton that is organic, from fair trade or from integrated production. Since 2023, euro banknote paper has been made using only sustainable cotton. The Eurosystem’s next target is to incorporate 100% organic or fair trade cotton – with a lower environmental impact than integrated production cotton – by 2027.
The €5 and €10 banknotes – and, as of 2021, the €20 banknotes – of the Europa series include a thin layer of varnish which makes them more resistant to damage from circulation. This increases the banknotes’ life cycle and has a significant financial and environmental impact, namely by reducing the consumption of raw materials.
Euro banknotes no longer fit for circulation are shredded and the waste is compacted into pellets. As this material is highly combustible, an environmentally accepted solution for disposing of it is incineration to generate electricity, which is the case for all the fragments from the Banco de Portugal’s five sorting centres. Nevertheless, the Banco de Portugal is exploring alternative processes that are environmentally preferable to the current process and accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
When packaging banknotes, the Banco de Portugal uses materials that can be recycled and reused, a requirement which must also be complied with by its business partners.
In the cash strategy, euro area central banks commit to making euro banknotes as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible by 2030, without compromising the widespread availability and acceptance of cash.
The environmental footprint of a person’s yearly euro banknote payments is equivalent to driving eight kilometres in a car, or only 0.01% of their total environmental impact.
Given that banknotes are in circulation for many years, distribution is one of the main contributors to their environmental footprint, mainly via the powering of ATMs and transportation.
For more information on the environmental impact of euro banknotes, see the study published on the European Central Bank’s website.