Pandora, known for its affordable silver charm bracelets, is the world’s largest jewelry company by volume: The Danish chain sells more than 100 million pieces a year. This week, it announced that it now sources only 100 percent recycled silver and gold for its collections.
The move was seen as a major step by a huge company to reduce its environmental footprint. “We wanted to lead by example,” Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik said in an interview. “If we can make a positive contribution to society through the use of recycled gold and silver, it means anyone can do it.”
By working with metals that have already been mined, Pandora will not dig deeper in search of new materials, allowing the company to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Mining requires more energy and resources than recycling and is a major source of mercury pollution. In a 2020 press release announcing its shift to recycled metals, Pandora cited statistics from the World Gold Council and other entities showing that the process of recycling gold reduces emissions by about 99 percent compared to mining it , while recycling silver reduces carbon emissions by about 66 percent compared to mining it.
Other brands, such as Prada and Monica Vinader, have also started using recycled metals. However, some industry observers warn that these materials can appear more virtuous than they actually are.
Like ‘sustainability’, the word ‘recycled’ can mean different things to different people. That gap in interpretation could prove problematic, said Tiffany Stevens, the executive director of the Jewelry Vigilance Committee, a New York-based organization that focuses on ethics and policy advocacy in the industry.
“Recycled is a positive modifier in most contexts, but that’s not necessarily the case when it comes to gold or silver,” he said. The term “upcycled,” he added, gives jewelry made with such materials a “green halo” or an environmentally friendly aura.
But the term doesn’t “give people clear answers about where their metals come from,” Ms. Stevens said, which is one reason her organization and others have asked the Federal Trade Commission to ban the use of “recycled ยป for the description of the jewelry products. sold in the United States. The FTC is expected to respond this year when it issues updates to its environmental marketing guidelines.
These guidelines currently say that “it is misleading to represent, directly or by implication, that an item contains recycled content unless it is composed of materials that have been recovered or otherwise diverted from the waste stream.” However, precious metals are generally not considered waste because they have been melted and reused for centuries and usually retain their value.
The term “recycled” can also obscure the origin of some metals, such as those from so-called cowboy miners or illegal refiners known to use child labor or operate businesses that finance the activities of criminal networks. Patrick Schein, a refiner and board member of the Alliance For Responsible Mining, said the word can create the illusion that the recycling process always yields “newborn gold that is ethically acceptable.”
The Alliance For Responsible Mining, an advocacy group, has pushed for other ways to improve jewelry industry supply chains, including for companies to support programs by groups like the Better Gold Association, which works with small-scale miners who refine metals more responsibly.
“Purchasing only recycled gold excludes this sector, which employs many people who are already in vulnerable situations,” said a 2020 statement released by the alliance and other organizations.
Mr Lacik said the move to supply only recycled metals to Pandora was based more on environmental factors than how it might affect small-scale miners, a group that produces nearly two-fifths of the world’s mercury, according to the United Nations Nations in 2018. i REPORT.
“You have to decide: Is the climate issue more or less important than specific communities,” he said. “In our case, we believe that addressing the climate issue and promoting progress is a bigger issue for humanity in the long term.”
While the use of recycled metals may reduce Pandora’s environmental footprint, the mining of new gold and silver has not slowed over the past decade, suggesting that companies’ growing interest in such materials has done little to offset mining’s overall climate footprint.
A team of 100 workers participated in the transition to recycled metals at Pandora, which is switching from mined diamonds to lab-grown diamonds in 2021. The change in metal sourcing required adapting processes and equipment to measures set by the Responsible Jewelery Council, a group in London recognized for setting global standards.
Among Pandora’s recycled metal suppliers is MKS PAMP, a Swiss refiner and trader. “We know every source in our supply chain and can tell you down to the gram what goes to whom,” said Xavier Miserez, the refinery’s head of sales. “Zero risk does not exist, but we try to mitigate as much as possible.”
Pandora plans to pay about $10 million a year for recycled metals. That’s more than he was paying for the newly mined, Mr. Lacik said, “but that’s a cost we’re willing to absorb.”
“I’m also realistic about how important this is to jewelry buyers,” he added, noting that most are driven by two main factors: design and price. “Some might then ask about sustainable production – but not many.”
