Jewelry brand pledges to use only recycled silver and gold

Pandora, Copenhagen, Denmark, the world’s largest jewelry brand, says it will stop using newly mined precious metals silver and gold in its jewelry by 2025 and only buy from recycled sources. The company says the move will reduce carbon emissions by two-thirds for silver and by more than 99 percent for gold.

“Silver and gold are beautiful jewelry materials that can be recycled forever without losing their quality,” CEO Alexander Lacik says. “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.”

Today, 71 percent of the silver and gold in Pandora’s jewelry comes from recycled sources. Shifting completely to recycled silver and gold will reduce CO2 emissions, water usage and other environmental impacts. The carbon emissions from sourcing recycled silver are one-third those of mined silver, while recycling of gold emits approximately 600 times less carbon than mining new gold, according to life cycle assessments.

“The need for sustainable business practices is only becoming more important, and companies must do their part in response to the climate crisis and the depletion of natural resources. For many years, Pandora has used recycled metals in our designs. Now we are ready to take the next step and stop using mined silver and gold altogether. This is a significant commitment that will be better for the environment and make our jewelry more sustainable,” Lacik says.

Silver is the most used material in Pandora jewelry, accounting for slightly more than half of all purchased product materials measured by weight. Pandora also uses smaller volumes of gold, palladium, copper and manmade stones such as nanocrystals and cubic zirconia.

The company says roughly 15 percent of the world’s silver supply comes from recycled sources, with more than half of this material coming from industrial sources, where it is used in chemical production, electronics and for other purposes.

Pandora says it will work with its suppliers to guarantee sufficient supply of responsibly sourced recycled silver, certified according to leading supply chain initiative standards, such as the London-based Responsible Jewellery Council. The company also says it will engage with key stakeholders in the supply chain to explore opportunities for increasing the availability of recycled silver and improve production standards.