Study Launched to Research Payment GHG Emissions

The Mint Directors’ Working Group (MDWG) spoke at the Coin Conference about new research commissioned into the environmental impact of cash compared with digital payments. With cash under pressure, the MDWG wants to ensure there is a level playing field when it comes to sustainability. There have been a number of studies into cash but hardly any into payments. It seeks to redress the balance.

The study will include studying and comparing the production, life, use and end of life for coins, banknotes, credit cards and smartphones. It will take a year to complete at a cost in the region of €200,000 funded by 16 organisations.

Responsible partners

The MDWG is made up of 28 Mints and National Central Banks in Europe. The steering committee for this project consists of the Monnaie de Paris, Casa Real de Moneda, Bavarian Mint, Oberthur Fiduciaire, Koenig and Bauer (for the International Currency Association) and Crane Currency.

The project team is made up of Muenze Oesterreich, SICPA SA, Bank of Greece, The Hungarian Mint, Mints Baden Wurtemburg, WMU, Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt, Schuler Pressen GmbH and Spaleck + Wertli.

The research institutes working on the project are CO2 Logic, South Pole Group, A2DM and IFC.

Project plan

The pre-framing and the scoping and intermediate reporting work has been completed and the decision has been made to proceed. The project now enters the data collection, data processing and pre-result work with final results and report due at the end.

The data collection includes:

• Capturing the number of transactions in each country

• The average amount of the transaction

• The distribution of banknotes and coins produced by value 

• The number of coins, banknotes and credit cards produced per year 

• The number of coins and banknotes used since creation

• The lifespan of coins, banknotes, credit cards and smartphones

Output

The project is looking at the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) using the Bilan Carbone® methodology. This methodology is used by the French government agency for environment and energy management. It is independently verified and is compliant with ISO 14064 standard and the GHG Protocol (Green House Gas). It measures both direct and indirect emissions.

At the end of the project a PCF per payment method will be produced giving a single criteria Life Cycle Assessment of GHG emissions.

Final word

This is an important initiative for the industry worldwide. The work is being carried out to the highest standards and it will deliver clarity on the relative environmental GHG emissions of different payments. All too often cash is measured carefully and in detail while its competitors are not. This redresses the balance. Whatever the result, it adds urgency and relevance of the work of everybody working on cash to minimise the impact that cash has.