Everyone knows how fond the Germans are of their deutschmark, and how it could prove traumatic for many to part from the currency for the euro. Now, it appears, this may not be necessary.

Rather than just throwing away those 10, 20 and 50 mark notes, the ecology-conscious Umweltschutz Nord company, near Bremen, plans to sell the bills back to the public as Bioferm - a dry compost for gardens.

"The tests are going just great. We've already recycled 30 million marks," a company spokesman told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper this week.