Pandora Now Sources 100% Recycled Silver, Gold for Its Jewelry

Pandora, the world’s largest jewelry brand, has
announced it has changed its precious metals supply and is now sourcing only
recycled silver and gold for all its jewelry.

The company says the shift avoids significant greenhouse gas emissions, as
mining requires more energy and resources than recycling. The carbon footprint
of recycled silver is one-third that of newly mined silver; while the recycling
of gold emits less than 1 percent of the carbon emissions from mining new gold.
By sourcing recycled metals, Pandora says it will reduce carbon emissions by
around 58,000 tons per year — an amount similar to the annual electricity use of
11,000 homes or driving 6,000 cars around the world.

“Precious metals can be recycled forever without any loss of quality. Silver
originally mined centuries ago is just as good as new, and improved recycling
can significantly reduce the climate footprint of the jewelry industry,” said
CEO Alexander Lacik.

In recent years, the jewelry industry has begun to address some of the
environmental and social atrocities inherent in production — particularly around
mining
— and Pandora has made several remarkable changes to its supply chain in recent
years in the name of sustainability: In 2020, the company set a target to source
100 percent recycled silver and gold by
2025;
in 2021, it began a shift away from mined diamonds toward lab-grown with
Pandora
Brilliance
— its first carbon-neutral collection — and in 2023, added three more lab-grown
diamond
collections;
and in 2022, Pandora joined the Watch & Jewellery Initiative
2030 —
which aims to build climate resilience in jewelry supply chains, ensure the
industry’s sourcing has a positive impact on nature and communities, and foster
inclusiveness in supply chains.

Silver and gold are the most used precious metals in Pandora jewelry. With this
most recent announcement, Pandora says it achieved its 2020 goal of using 100
percent recycled silver and gold two years early — at the end of 2023 — thanks
to strong commitment and engagement from its suppliers.

All suppliers have had to switch their operations to only source materials that
are certified recycled according to the Responsible Jewelry Council Chain of
Custody
Standard
— one of the strictest standards in the industry. For many, this has introduced
new processes and equipment to ensure complete segregation of mined and recycled
metals across the entire supply chain including sorting, melting and
manufacturing. More than 100 Pandora employees have been involved in the
transition work.

Allowing time for the depletion of existing inventory of metals, Pandora expects
that it will craft all new jewelry with 100 percent recycled silver and gold
from the second half of 2024. In 2023, 97 percent of the silver and gold sourced
for Pandora’s jewelry was recycled.

Today, less than 20 percent of the world’s silver supply comes from recycled
sources — typically from discarded electronics, old jewelry, cutlery,
manufacturing scrap and other industry waste. Once collected, recycled silver
undergoes a refining process where impurities are removed, and the metal is
recast to be used again.