Euro Developments - A Problem With "Trash"

The countries in Europe who are using the new Euro currencies are facing the monumental task of how to dump the old currency and coin.

Some countries, such as Germany, have strict environmental laws that don't allow the easiest option - burning or dumping the old paper and coins in a landfill.

As a result, entrepreneurs are coming up with creative uses for the old money: selling coins for scrap metal that may eventually show up in wiring or as new coins; coming up with creative souvenirs such as mouse pads, envelopes and note paper that people who are sentimental about the old currency may desire. One of the biggest customers of those products are the central banks of the countries that have gone to the Euro.

Other countries are finding ways to recycle the materials such as Austria, which already sends about 1,000 tons a year of shredded schilling to a building materials firm, which turns them into insulation pellets used in floors and ceiling.

Copyright © 2002 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 12, No. 3, 4/02