The problems with recycled gold: It’s time to come unstuck

We see jewellery as an active tool for change, and so we are constantly weighing up the social and environmental impacts of one precious material against another – ‘girl mathing’ the equation. One of the most affordable and commonplace solutions available to us is recycled gold, but it’s no secret that recycled gold has become a greenwashing device in recent years, used by some as 'the silver bullet to claim responsible, eco-friendly, zero carbon, conflict-free and even ethical practices'. [Alliance for Responsible Mining] Recycled gold is not currently fulfilling its potential as the accessible, environmentally conscious alternative to newly mined metal that it could be. This blog post is an exploration of why, and how we’d like to see our industry come unstuck.

First: what do we mean by ‘ethical’ gold?

Thanks to a growing awareness of supply chain issues – from Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio (2006) through decades of reporting on toxic waste spills and human rights crises - consumers are increasingly asking what their precious metals actually cost the world. The term ‘ethical gold’ gets bandied around a lot as a result. But what does it actually mean?

What is industry-standard gold?

The term ‘industry standard’ describes any precious material without sound ethical credentials. In the context of gold, this might mean it has been recently mined using toxic chemicals or at a vast industrial scale, ravaging landscapes and ecosystems. It might mean its extraction involved violations of human rights: forced labour, child labour, unfair wages or unsafe working conditions. At the less extreme end of the scale, gold is sometimes described as industry-standard simply because it lacks full traceability - meaning environmental destruction and human rights violations are not guaranteed factors, but without transparency, we cannot be certain.

At the moment, a UK jewel is roughly 30 times more likely to be crafted from industry-standard metal than from metal guaranteed to be sustainable. There are 9,435 registered jewellers in the UK, and only 300 are Fairtrade-certified. Even in our current age of climate emergency and increasing socio-political awareness, industry standard gold remains the most abundant option.

Same metal, different story

To the naked eye, a wedding band cast in industry-standard metal is indecipherable from one cast in ‘ethical’ gold: same weight, same colour, same durability. The difference lies entirely in what you cannot see - the supply chain behind it, and whether the people and ecosystems involved in bringing it to market were treated with fairness and care.

For us, the definition of ‘ethical’ is straightforward. ‘Ethical’ means sustainable and proactively considerate – whether environmentally, socioeconomically, or both simultaneously. 

In the context of newly mined materials, this claim requires confirmation of exactly where they originate and how they were traded. If not new but recycled, this means confirmation from a trusted supplier of guaranteed recycled or reclaimed provenance. Where possible, corroboration from a rigorous third-party certification scheme helps to further strengthen these claims.

The carbon cost of gold: the numbers

For every piece of jewellery, roughly 95% of its carbon footprint lies in the extraction and production of its metal alone. The difference between recycled and newly mined gold, on this measure, is dramatic.

Whilst 1 gram of mined gold generates 36,410 grams of greenhouse gases, the recycled gold equivalent generates only 53 grams - that is 686 times, or 99.8%, less carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. 

For context, the average wedding band weighs around 4 grams. Cast in newly mined gold, that ring alone would require the excavation of 20 tonnes of waste and account for 145,640 grams of greenhouse gases - roughly the equivalent of what an average British household generates in a seven-day week.

It’s important to acknowledge that recycled gold is not carbon footprint exempt: before transportation and manufacturing it must be melted down and often refined, all of which are energy-intensive processes. They are, however, incomparable to the carbon cost of mining - 99.8% less impactful, in fact.

It’s also worth noting that local gold - recycled and sold within the UK - carries a smaller environmental footprint still, avoiding the emissions associated with international shipping. This is why, wherever possible, we favour diamonds and gemstones already in London: the vast majority of which are recycled, have been in the UK for some time, and are waiting for new owners rather than flying in from the other side of the world.

The problem with recycled gold: Grandiose sustainability claims

An increasing number of jewellery brands are advertising recycled gold as a significant solution to the ongoing climate crisis, with some even claiming that it’s ‘saving the planet’.

‘Children learn from an early age that recycling is good for the planet, reduces the mountains of landfill waste, and means less use of resource,’ ARM explains.

The messaging is accessible, appealing to consumers concerned about the environmental issues associated with traditional gold mining. What many don’t discuss is how reusing gold has in fact been a common practice for centuries, because gold is an eternally renewable resource that can be easily melted and refined time and time again. Recycling gold is nothing new, and certainly not a practice that calls for a standing ovation as a single approach to environmental awareness.

It’s important to mention here that recycled gold is technically less environmentally impactful than newly mined gold. Whilst 1 gram of mined gold generates 36,410 grams of greenhouse gases, the recycled gold equivalent generates only 53 grams. In other words, that’s 686 times – or 99.8% less carbon dioxide being released into the air.

It's worth bearing in mind that local gold - gold that is recycled and sold in the UK - is further less impactful on the environment than gold shipped around the globe.

All this being said, recycled gold has never been a complete solution to global warming. The substitution effect – the environmental impact of the primary resource displaced by a secondary resource – cannot justify a green and carbon-free advantage for gold. Not only is there high demand for gold across various industries – from jewellery to medicine, automotive and technology – gold is mined for its value and plays a role as a currency. Unlike other metals or materials, an increased recycled supply will not prevent the mining of gold. In fact, ARM data reveals that the volume of “recycled” gold refined between 2018 and 2021 increased by 34%, while mine production source remained stable over these four years.

The problem with recycled gold: Loopholes

Estefania's bespoke cocktail ring, created by way of remodelling her old jewellery

Due diligence requirements of the different industry schemes for sourcing ‘recycled’ gold are currently too weak, with no standardised auditing system. This creates loopholes that allow problematic gold to find its way into legitimate supply chains; that’s gold linked to conflict, organised crime, money laundering, tax evasion, industrial-scale mining, child labour and sanctioned individuals or companies.

Research has shown that refineries certified to best practice standards carry out their due diligence for recycled gold only until the first supplier, without knowing where this gold re-entered the market and the risk associated (add source). This makes it easy for tainted gold to be offloaded and rebranded as ‘recycled’. Goldsmith Christina Malle delves deeper into these murky waters with a great article written for Ethical Metalsmiths. The solution to this problem is two-pronged.

• Industry schemes must tighten their due diligence requirements for reprocessed and recycled gold, with all companies rigorously verifying the origins of their ‘recycled’ gold.
• In order to do so, we first need a clear universal definition of what exactly constitutes ‘recycled’ gold in the first place. We’ll explore this point next.

The problem with recycled gold: Vague definitions

As highlighted by Christina T. Miller in May 2023:

“[The question of how ‘recycled’ is defined] can be difficult to navigate because the jewelry industry is still working to develop consensus. To what extent can users of the definitions be accountable to them? For example, is it a legally binding, mandated by a standard, or collectively agreed upon definition? Generally, recycled gold can be understood as gold that has been previously refined.”

The Precious Metals Impact Forum identifies that definitions currently allow recycled gold to be "artificially created" by converting freshly mined gold that has never seen a consumer. As such, they make a distinction between recycled gold and reprocessed gold. By their definitions, recycled gold is recovered from any product containing less than 2% of gold in weight, destined to be discarded, and returned to a refiner or other downstream intermediate processor to begin a new life cycle. Meanwhile, reprocessed gold is produced from any product containing more than 2% of gold in weight with the simple purpose of changing its state (e.g. bullion melted to create jewellery, jewellery melted to become a bar being sent to a refinery, unsold, used or broken jewellery being melted to create something new, manufacturing scraps, etc.)

The Jewelry Glossary Project differentiates between post-consumer recycled (‘materials such as metals and gemstones recovered from used consumer products for reuse in new products’) and pre-consumer recycled (‘recovered material by-products of manufacturing or materials reclaimed from uncirculated consumer goods used to make new products.’) By their general definition of ‘recycled’ gold, ‘Bullion containing any non-recycled metal or manufacturing by-product reintroduced back into the same production line are NOT recycled.’

Meanwhile, SCS Global Services concludes that a material is recycled if it is ‘used, reused or reclaimed,’ enabling ANY recovered gold – whether swept from the floors or benches of jewellery makers or taken from old tooth fillings – to be considered ‘recycled’. As per definitions like this one, it’s possible for ‘recycled gold’ to constitute material that has a very short journey from mine to recycled feedstock. “Gold sits in the bank for a day or 50 years, but as soon as it is sold, it is labeled ‘recycled' just because it has changed ownership.”

“We believe the definition of ‘recycled’ gold should encompass only that which is strictly post-consumer waste; aligning with the legal and normative definitions of recycled material in general.”

EU countries, the UK and Switzerland - where most gold is traded or refined - define recycling as the reprocessing of waste material and then define waste as discarded material. The US defines recycling as the processing of materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash.

According to these legal and regulatory definitions, an old piece of jewellery, a coin or bar or a manufacturing by-product cannot be considered waste, because it is not something that is destined to be discarded or trashed. We do not see landfills full of gold jewellery, so why can an old piece of jewellery or manufacturing scrap be repurposed into fine gold and instantly benefit from a green image and supposed zero-carbon footprint, just like recycled plastic bottles that really would have ended up as polluting rubbish?

The cementation of this definition would help us focus our recycling efforts on the real problems the world is facing; like a lack of formal e-waste recycling facilities worldwide.

The problem with recycled gold: Alone, it addresses only half of the equation

An artisanal Fairmined Ecological Gold miner from the Coodmilla Cooperative in Colombia, with his gold

At Lebrusan Studio, we view the world through the lens of the Economic Doughnut, concerned simultaneously with the socioeconomic needs of society and the boundaries of our planet’s natural eco-systems, upon which we all rely. From this perspective, working exclusively with reclaimed materials is a disregard for the 100 million people worldwide whose lives depend on mining. As gold prices have risen in recent decades, the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector has too expanded, and as long as gold prices remain high, there is no indication that gold mining by local communities will cease.

“Cutting off ASM supply chains or making them invisible under the guise of ‘recycled’ gold perpetuates informality within supply chains,” ARM explains. A lack of formality leaves miners and their communities at greater risk of unfair prices, unsafe working conditions, exploitation and even affiliation with conflict groups. “Not engaging with ASM is likely the biggest missed opportunity for gold supply chains to have a real positive social and environmental impact, ensuring that communities benefit directly from their mineral wealth.”

We urge jewellers like us to consider the breadth of their activities as a balancing act. To engage exclusively with recycled gold is to overlook other social, economic and political issues that we, as members of the jewellery industry, are also responsible for acknowledging.

The certified alternatives: Fairtrade Gold and Fairmined Gold

What is Fairtrade Gold?

Fairtrade Gold is the world’s first independent ethical certification system for gold. Gold certified by Fairtrade is sourced from mine sites that meet the Fairtrade Gold Standard - a globally recognised marker of best practice. We were proud to have been among the world’s first ever Fairtrade Gold licensees, specially selected in 2011 as a small handful of jewellers worldwide to launch the scheme.

Fairtrade Gold costs around 20% more to buy than its industry-standard counterparts. This is because Fairtrade miners are paid 95% - 98% of the daily spot price for their gold - a significant contrast to the 70% average paid to non-certified ASM miners. In addition, Fairtrade miners receive a Fairtrade Premium for every kilogram of gold they sell. Within their cooperatives, miners decide together how to invest this premium: in environmental restoration, education, childcare or healthcare.

What is Fairmined Gold?

Fairmined is an assurance label that certifies gold from empowered artisanal and small-scale mining organisations. Whilst the Fairtrade scheme focuses primarily on trading conditions and premiums, Fairmined’s approach begins even earlier: identifying ASM organisations with a demonstrated commitment to responsible mining, then spending an average of 18 months on the ground alongside them - imparting knowledge and delivering training across health, safety and environmental protection - before a third-party audit determines whether a Fairmined certification is warranted.

A Fairmined certification guarantees ASM operations fair trade prices, direct access to international markets, responsible supply chains, governmental legitimacy and access to a network of experienced allies. Certified operations must then continue to comply with the requirements of the Fairmined Standard, which apply not only within the mine itself but to the broader community as well.

We were one of the very first jewellers in the UK to gain the Fairmined license. The Fairmined Ecological Gold we use comes from La Llanada in Colombia: a mining community that has dedicated three decades to extracting gold without the use of mercury or cyanide. Fairmined’s work with operations like this one represents a rising voice for responsible practice from inside the industry - and an incentive for others to follow suit.

Why Fairtrade and Fairmined gold cost more

The higher price of certified ethical gold reflects the true cost of doing things properly: fair wages, safe working conditions, community investment and the administrative overhead of rigorous third-party auditing. When a jeweller charges more for Fairtrade or Fairmined Gold, that premium is not profit - it is evidence of a supply chain that has been held to account.

In paying a little more, you are directly supporting the miners and communities responsible for bringing your jewellery into the world. You are also sending a market signal: that supply chains built on fairness and transparency are ones worth investing in.

Our proposition: A tiered system for classifying recycled gold

The Atahensic toi et moi commitment rings, crafted with 14ct recycled gold and reclaimed gemstones

When understood, described and used mindfully, recycled gold is a chance to make new from old; to enjoy beautiful jewellery without proactively contributing to further extractive activities.

“It makes a lot of sense to reuse and recycle these minerals, because they're not going to biodegrade. There is more and more research proving that all the gold that was ever mined since the beginning of human history is still existing with us above ground. We're talking about hundreds and thousands of tons of gold. I see a great opportunity to reuse these materials because they have these great characteristics that they can be recast and remelted again and again and again, without ever impacting their performance.” -  Danielle Keller Aviram, sustainable researcher and analyst

But if we are to make the very best of this opportunity, we need to discuss recycled gold with nuance, recognising that provenance plays a huge role in the extent to which recycled gold is truly beneficial to our planet. For the sake of mutual understanding, we suggest a three-tiered classification scheme for recycled gold:

Subsequently, we also know we need to see the following changes:

• A crack down on greenwashing, with jewellery brands required to back up their sustainability claims with a certain standard of calculation, methodology and research
• Likewise, a refusal to accept descriptions of jewellery as ‘ethical’ simply because it was made from recycled gold
• Reinforced due diligence requirements to enable companies to verify the origins of their Tier 1 and Tier 2 recycled gold
• A clear, universal definition of ‘recycled’ gold
• The wider adoption of ethical business model frameworks, encouraging jewellery brands to consider the socioeconomic welfare of ASM communities equally to the environmental impact of their recycled gold

What this means for you

If your priority is minimising your environmental footprint, post-consumer recycled gold is the most logical choice - and the closer to home it’s sourced, the better. 

If your primary concern is the socioeconomic welfare of the communities behind your jewellery, certified artisanal Fairmined Gold enables you invest directly in the human beings at the beginning of the supply chain.

If you don’t wish to personally drive demand for new extractive activity but care simultaneously about supporting artisanal mining communities, our new offering of Recycled+ Metals enables you to strike a balance. For recycled material that works harder, this offering pairs your recycled gold or platinum ring with Fairmined Credits, a direct premium paid to certified artisanal mining communities in Latin America. These communities mine without mercury or cyanide and under independent audit, and their livelihoods depend on being recognised and rewarded for doing things right. Our Recycled+ Metals celebrate circularity and minimising new extraction, whilst continuing to generate real support for people who mine responsibly. Ethical jewellery is a practice in balance and nuance.

Here at Lebrusan Studio, we know that jewellery has the potential to change the world, one gram of gold at a time. In order to truly harness this potential, we must refuse to accept the bare minimum as ‘ethical’ and work hard to ensure we are truly making the best of the circular options available to us. If you’d like to discuss the legacy that you envision for your special piece of gold jewellery, please get in touch.