Hungarian Authorities Hand Out Money to Burn for Heating

Who would have thought that in the time of a major economic crisis a county can afford to use money as a heat source? Well, probably no one can afford to burn money that’s currently in use, but Hungary’s Central Bank came up with a great way to dispose of old bills. They’re giving charities tons of old notes, turned into briquettes to be used as heating fuel.

Orange reports that the process of turning old cash into briquettes is carefully supervised, workers having to wear pocketless clothes, but in the end humanitarian organizations get the necessary fuel for getting by in the harsh winter that Europe is facing right now.

Studies revealed that the heating properties of these briquettes are similar to those of brown coal and since the money would be destroyed anyway, at least this way it’s put to good use.

Approximately, between 40 and 50 tons of currency are destroyed each year. In other terms 200 billion Hungarian Forints, the equivalent of $905 million (633 million EUR) is recycled and used for heating purposes in the poor regions of the country.