We're betting you've seen taglines such as "made with recycled gold" on fine jewelry. And maybe you've even sought out brands that use recycled gold.
But what is recycled gold?
Recycled gold is real gold that's been plucked from jewelry, electronics, and industrial objects, refined (purified), and resold to brands and manufacturers, chiefly sustainability-minded jewelry brands.
Jewelry companies from Prada to Pandora are currently using recycled gold in their collections as a way to reduce their environmental footprint, avoid the costly and precarious working conditions in the gold-mining process, and ultimately create more ethically-produced goods.
Copenhagen-based Pandora, the biggest jewelry brand in the world by sales, is now exclusively using recycled gold and silver to craft its jewelry. And for two years now, Prada has produced Eternal Gold, a collection of 100% recycled gold that adheres to the standards of the Responsible Jewellery Council, the primary organization that advises the industry on sustainability and ethical business practices.
San Francisco-based ethical jewelry brand Brilliant Earth aims to use 100% recycled gold in its range by 2025 (it’s currently 98% of the way there). Even small fine jewelry makers are using recycled gold exclusively, including trendy ateliers Mejuri, Aurate and Catbird.
“Precious metals can be recycled forever without any loss of quality,” explained Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik, in a recent statement. “Metals mined centuries ago are just as good as new. They will never tarnish or decay. We wish to help develop a more responsible way of crafting affordable luxury like our jewelry, and prevent that these fine metals end up in landfills. We want to do our part to build a more circular economy.”
Where are brands getting their recycled gold?
The World Gold Council reports that 90 percent of recycled gold comes from discarded jewelry and the rest from electronic waste (think mobile phones and laptops, which contain small bits of real gold). Old cars with catalytic converters and electronics with circuit boards also contain gold that gets melted down. Refineries process the used gold and sell it to jewelry companies.
Most jewelry designers source their recycled goods from U.S. refiners, which include Hoover & Strong, Stuller, and United Precious Metals Refining. These companies are verified through a third-party audit called Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), which guarantees that all products are, indeed, recycled. (Pandora's recycled metals hail from refineries including MKS PAMP, Umicore and Arezzo Refinery).
So why is recycling gold, and then buying recycled gold, worthwhile? Buckle up: Gold mining is carbon- and water-intensive and when done the traditional way, leaches mercury into the earth and streams, where it poisons the earth for generations. Mercury is a neurotoxin causing neurological disorders, birth defects, and numerous other illnesses. Industry organization Mercury Free Mining has been working toward the eradication of mercury pollution in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, but it's a long-term effort. Mercury is very effective at extracting gold from ore as an amalgam.
“Gold mining is one of the most destructive mining industries, and the leading cause of mercury pollution,” Beth Gerstein, co-founder of Brilliant Earth, wrote in a social media post. “It has devastated our ecosystems – including the Amazon rainforests, our planet’s lungs.”
There's also the cost. According to the World Gold Council, the cost to mine an ounce of gold is now $1,342, a record high. And demand for gold is greater than ever, despite its record-high price (jewelry still accounts for roughly 50% of annual gold demand). One ounce of gold costs a whopping $2,599.30 today, Sept. 17, 2024.
There’s a vigorous debate over whether to call re-used gold “recycled,” as the term connotes waste. Gold is so valuable, it's rarely thrown away. The Precious Metals Impact Forum (PMIF) has proposed these distinctions: “Recycled” gold is any product containing less than 2 percent of gold in weight, recovered from any product (often smartphones and computers) and destined to be discarded and returned to a refinery to be melted and recast. “Reprocessed” gold is any product containing more than 2 percent of gold in weight that is melted down to create something else, primarily jewelry.
But most jewelry designers are leaving the definitions and semantics to others.
New York-based fine jewelry designer Pat Flynn says recycled gold, "just seems to be a better solution than mining. I guess I’m trying to do my little part. It’s about being as responsible as you can be and hope for the best.”
Heather B. Moore, designer and founder of her Cleveland-based eponymous brand, has been using recycled gold for decades, and says, “If you can take yourself out of the mining industry, it just makes you feel better.”
