Cashless society, small change and protecting the environment

(Translation of this French blog article; comments and suggestions are welcome)

I’m preparing a Euro coin watch summary article for the last few months, and two related announcements, in my view, are worth a special mention, as they concern the public policies of Estonia and Belgium aimed at encouraging people to use coins, or at least not to keep them at home. Interestingly, both governments link their policies to environmental concerns. What’s more, the Belgian government is also appealing to altruism, by emphasizing the importance of coins for local retail outlets and their use for philanthropic purposes.

• Kristjan Lember, Eesti Pank issued 194 million euros of cash in the first quarter of the year, Eesti Pank (May 3, 2024) (press release): Estonia: the national bank issued 2 million coins worth 0.9 million euros in the first quarter of the year. The most widely issued coin was the 1-cent coin, which accounted for 22% of total production. During the same period, the central bank received 4.5 million coins from commercial banks, worth 1.6 million euros. 2-cents coins accounted for 20% of all coins returned. The overall amount is much higher than average and is due to the fact that the central bank and some commercial banks ran coin recovery campaigns. The benefits for the environment are highlighted. The country will soon pass a law allowing cash payments to be rounded up to 5 cents, in order to reduce the use of 1 and 2 cents coins. The press release also informs that 45 counterfeit coins were discovered in Estonia during this quarter.
• Lauren Walker, Smash the piggy bank: Belgium calls on people to spend unused coins, The Brussels Time (July 9, 2024): Following a shortage of coins, the Belgian government is launching a campaign to encourage people to use their coins rather than keep them at home. There are over 4.2 billion coins in Belgium, worth over €1.5 billion. 212 million coins are said to be hoarded by private individuals. According to the government, using old coins is good for the environment, as making new ones produces a lot of CO2, since basic materials such as nickel and copper have to be imported into Europe from Africa or South America.
  • The official campaign announcement: “Spend your change: a call to use coins” (July 8, 2024, available in French or in Dutch); a video is available on Facebook ( 332 “likes”); see #spendyourchange for the low impact, I felt, of the campaign (midsummer was perhaps not the best time to launch it, and, in my opinion, it’s curious that children weren’t given more prominence, even though “the children’s piggy bank” is mentioned in the official announcement).

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