Environmental awareness is becoming increasingly important in all aspects of our lives. We are moving from a linear economy where we are used to take, use and dispose products towards a more circular economy where prevention of waste and re-use is key. Worldwide there are many unfit banknotes in various substrates which must be disposed of. This can be done in many ways. Some methods are more environmentally friendly as others. Recently Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering conducted the largest survey to date on how various countries dispose their unfit banknotes. We will elaborate on the main results from this study and will provide new solutions on how to move forward to reduce the footprint of these unfit banknotes.