http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/14675/story.htm Planet Ark :
German marks turned to alcohol GERMANY: February 22, 2002 BERLIN - While other eurozone bank notes go up in flames or are turned into toilet roll, Germany's redundant deutsche marks are gaining a new life as alcohol at a German refuse processing plant. The plant, at the town of Schwarze Pumpe near the Polish border, is receiving one to 1.5 tonnes - up to 100 million marks - of shredded notes per day from the Berlin office of the central bank, and turning them into methanol - industrial alcohol. Everything but the metal strip can be used. Most of the bills are 50 or 100 mark notes. The smaller denominations have already been destroyed as the mark gives way to the European Union's single currency, the euro. "We're deutsche mark millionaires in a funny sort of way. Of course, it's waste, but it feels rather different...It's also a little bit sad," plant manager Thomas Obermeier said. The plant has a history of processing odd items. Some years ago it turned much of a wooden ship that had run aground into methanol. Drugs seized by police are also regularly thrown into its vats. Methanol is a basic chemical building block used to produce a variety of derivatives needed for plastic, paints and foams. The mark ceased to be legal tender in Germany from January 1, but the government reached a voluntary understanding with retailers to continue to accept them until the end of February. However, many shops stopped accepting marks from mid-January. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4. No Minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/BgmYkB/VovDAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
