Can the Circular Economy Also Provide the Gold and Silver Jewellery Industry with Solutions?

The Circular Economy Is on the Rise!

Upcycled collections have been popping up on the runways. Second-hand shops are bursting at the seams, and repair shops are also getting more business. And it’s high time it happened! If we don’t change anything about our Throwaway society, resources will run out sooner or later. We must adopt circular business models in the jewellery sector. Natural resources are scarce and expensive, and mining them significantly impacts our environment.

Running Out of Natural Resources

The demand for natural resources is rising, but finding and extracting new sources is becoming increasingly difficult. As a result, some vital resources risk becoming scarce and highly pricey. Therefore, it is in the best interests of the jewellery industry to adopt a circular model where silver and gold are recycled and reused. Interestingly, most of the gold and silver available in Western Europe comes from old recycled jewellery. This is better for the planet and ensures good working conditions since this jewellery is processed within the European Union. It’s possible that your favourite piece of jewellery is made from recycled gold, and you may not even be aware of it.

Recycled Jewellery from Mobile Phones

Mining uses an enormous amount of water to extract the precious metals needed for all the technology underpinning our modern lifestyles: mobiles phones and other electronics. Belgium currently has more mobile phones than inhabitants. It’s a real waste that old mobile phone batteries (and all of the precious metals they contain) end up in a dusty cupboard or in the bin. E‑waste recycling can be a harmful and exploitative process if not regulated carefully. But circular companies such as Umicore follow strict internal guidelines to ensure ethical and conscious recycling of precious metals from electrical appliances, smartphones and computer motherboards. One gold wedding ring requires 200 mobile phones. Recycling these materials is very profitable because the value of metal does not decrease over time. One tonne of e‑waste accounts for 100 times more gold than what is extracted in mines. Umicore Precious Metals Refining is one of the world’s largest precious metal recycling plants. Umicore has a recovery rate of almost 95% for metals contained in e‑waste.

Nico Taeymans, NUE, Or Service, Huis Pauwels-Spaenjers, Zoe Detrez and Atelier Luz are a few examples of jewellers who use recycled gold and silver to make their creations.

Recycling Old Jewellery

We already know that most gold & silver is recycled in Western Europe. Many jewellers can also transform your old jewellery into a new piece with even more sentimental value. Gold and silver are remelted, given a new carat certificate and precious stones or diamonds are reset.

However, many creative jewellers see opportunities for new, unique designs using numerous waste streams. 

However, many creative jewellers see opportunities for new unique designs using numerous waste streams. Nico Taeymans, NUE, Or Service, Huis Pauwels-Spaenjers, Zoë Detrez en Atelier Luz , Xzota, Fien Demuynck, are a few examples of jewellers that use recycled gold and silver to make their creations. A lot of these jewellers collect old jewellery from clients and recycle them into new pieces, following ethical and conscious recycling practices, and some also source their recycled metals from Umicore.

Three tips for jewellery buying

When looking for ethical jewellery, there are several factors to consider.

1. Pay attention to the country of origin. Avoid diamonds from zones of conflict such as Zimbabwe, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and the Ivory Coast — countries you can trust for ethical diamonds: Canada, Australia, Namibia and Sierra Leone.
2. Look beyond the certificates. Certificates are helpful but do not tell the whole story.
3. Ask questions. What does the jeweller say about his products, their origin, and the working conditions in which they are made? Does the brand or the jeweller support projects in the local communities where their diamonds are extracted? Do they support initiatives that promote fair-trade diamonds, gold, and silver?