Summary Banknote Recycling Study 2025

What the 2025 study reveals about banknote substrates in circulation

The Banknote Recycling Study 2025 shows that cotton remains the dominant banknote substrate worldwide, while polymer continues to grow, creating both opportunity and complexity for recycling strategies. 

The 2025 survey gathered responses from 84 countries across all continents. The data confirms that 61% of central banks primarily circulate cotton banknotes, with a further 18% using a cotton–polymer mix, 6% a cotton–composite mix, and 2% a full cotton–polymer–composite mix. Fully polymer series account for 9% of respondents, while purely composite notes remain limited at 4%. Compared with 2023, the share of “mix” portfolios has decreased from 35% to 26%, and the share of pure cotton has edged up from 59% to 61%. This does not indicate a rapid shift to full polymer, but rather a gradual stabilization with cotton remaining the dominant structure.

Regionally, every continent still has a strong cotton presence, but the combination portfolios are where change is most visible. In Europe and Asia, cotton continues to be the backbone of circulation, yet polymer is increasingly used. Africa and North America show a broader spread. South America and Oceania remain mixed but relatively small in global weight. This means most central banks are managing multiple substrates at once, which directly affects destruction and recycling options.  

For central bank decision-makers, this substrate landscape poses a practical challenge: recycling solutions must accommodate diversity rather than a single-material stream. Separate handling of cotton, polymer and composite shreds becomes essential if central banks want to move up the waste hierarchy from landfill and simple burning towards energy recovery, technical materials and truly circular products. The study underlines that technology for separation and dedicated shred handling is therefore no longer a “nice to have”, but a precondition for future-proof sustainability programmes. 

How central banks dispose of cotton, polymer and composite notes today 

The 2025 study results show that energy recovery for cotton and recycling for polymer have become the predominant disposal routes worldwide (measured by the volume of banknotes), while landfill continues to be the main pathway for composite notes and remains a concern in several regions. 

For cotton banknotes, energy recovery is already the primary route worldwide when the figures are weighted by the number of notes destroyed. Briquetted cotton shreds are increasingly sent to controlled incineration plants or waste-to-energy facilities, where they act as a consistent auxiliary fuel. The study’s global charts show that, although some central banks still rely on landfill or simple burning, the majority of cotton volume now avoids disposal without energy use. Composting and material recycling of cotton are present but remain niche, despite promising pilots such as composting shredded notes as a soil improve or incorporating fibres into recycled paper products.

  Polymer tells a different story. When measured by number of notes, around 74% of unfit polymer banknotes are recycled where appropriate frameworks exist, particularly in Europe, South America and parts of Africa. These notes are typically processed into granulate and used in plastics manufacturing, supporting new technical materials and long‑lived products. However, nearly 23% of polymer volume still ends up in landfill, and a further share is burned, with or without energy recovery, especially in markets where recycling partners or standards are not yet established. This underlines that polymer’s recyclability is only realized where infrastructure and regulation have caught up.

  Composite notes remain the most challenging substrate. The 2025 data indicate that landfill is still the dominant disposal route where information is available, both in terms of the number of central banks and the volume of notes. Burning with energy recovery is rare, and systematic recycling routes for composite shreds are not yet in place.

Overall, the disposal picture shows clear progress for cotton and polymer, but also a sizeable gap for composite and for countries where landfill and basic burning still prevail due to cost, regulation or lack of partners.  

Barriers, timing and direction of change in banknote disposal

The study concludes that change in banknote disposal is underway but uneven, with clear interest in more sustainable routes, specific barriers by substrate, and a gradual move to integrate sustainability in policy and tenders. 

Over the past two years, 84.1% of central banks reported no change in their banknote disposal methods, yet 15.9% have already adjusted their approach. This share has more than doubled compared with earlier survey rounds, indicating that the industry is entering an early transition phase rather than remaining static. When asked about future intentions, respondents show a steady interest in changing disposal methods, with more banks moving from “not at all interested” or “slightly interested” into the “interested” and “very interested” categories. Some of these central banks expect change within a one to five‑year horizon, but the majority have no specific time frame planned. 

The three main barriers to starting recycling across all substrates are limited technology, low volumes and a shortage of suitable suppliers. 

The barriers are specific to each substrate. For cotton, the two main limitations are low volumes and limited technology availability, each mentioned by around a quarter of respondents. For polymer, the single largest obstacle is the lack of a strong market for recycled polymer banknote materials, cited by 42.9% of participants, followed by technology gaps at 28.6%. Interestingly, polymer volumes are sufficient, which means a steady and predictable supply of material will be available once downstream recycling markets are in place. Composite banknotes are primarily constrained by security concerns, highlighted by 66.7% of respondents, with low volumes also contributing but other factors playing a much smaller role (33.3%). 

On sustainability more broadly, more than half of the central banks now have a formal sustainability policy, and the share publishing sustainability reports has increased since 2022. In tenders, sustainability is increasingly present, often as a prerequisite rather than a differentiating scoring item.

The study’s overall outcome is clear: momentum is building, with central banks signalling intent, piloting new disposal routes and beginning to embed sustainability into their governance. At the same time, unlocking the full potential of cotton, polymer and composite recycling will require targeted solutions, secure processes and close cooperation across the cash cycle to move consistently up the banknote shred waste pyramid.

If you would like to explore how your unfit banknotes can be turned into innovative new products, please contact us. Together, we can identify secure, sustainable reuse options for shredded banknotes that support a circular economy. 

‘We envision shredded banknotes as a fully integrated part of the circular economy and are committed to uniting the industry around secure destruction and reuse to support a more sustainable future.’

Jeroen Kusters, Director of Sales

Take part in the upcoming survey

If you represent a Central Bank or Printing Works, we invite you to join the next Banknote Recycling survey. Your insights are crucial to advancing sustainable cash management, and participants will receive a complimentary copy of the report.