The ECB’s Environmental Sustainability Journey

At Intergraf's just-concluded Currency+Identity online conference, Bernadette O’Brien presented the work done by the European Central Bank (ECB) on improving the environmental sustainability of euro banknotes. From its first life cycle assessment (LCA) of the first euro series in 2004 through to its 2020 Product Environmental Footprint project, the ECB has steadily worked to ensure the euro banknotes are 'good citizens'.

Euro banknote production has a large stakeholder group – 19 national central banks (NCBs), 12 printing works, six paper mills and 22 raw material suppliers – overseen by the ECB through its regulations and co-operative working.

The sustainability journey the euro system has been on started in 2004 with its LCA, which assessed the 3 billion notes produced in 2003. It used the ISO 14040 approach and established that the environmental impact of euro production was the equivalent of each European citizen driving a car for one kilometre or leaving a 60W light bulb switched on for 12 hours.