Many companies use the term “recycled gold” in a way that overstates the product’s true environmental impact, panelists agreed during a session on gold sourcing at the recent Initiatives in Art and Culture Gold & Diamond Conference.
“Many brands talk about how recycled gold is ‘green’ and how it has a lower carbon footprint,” said Sabrina Karib, founder of the Precious Metals Impact Forum (PMIF). “This runs the risk of greenwashing.
“In the minds of consumers, recycled means ‘green’ or something that avoids mining. Recycled gold does not reduce mining. In terms of volume, it doesn’t change anything.”
Karib said that while recycled gold has numerous definitions, a multi-stakeholder group convened by PMIF decided that it should be more narrowly defined: it should only apply to products that contain less than 2% gold (by weight) and are made from gold that would otherwise be discarded – such as electronics. Gold from melted jewellery, which is now regularly called recycled, should instead be called reprocessed.
The Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) recently asked the Federal Trade Commission to prohibit the use of the term “recycled gold” for jewellery products, said panelist Tiffany Stevens, president and CEO of the JVC. “Most of our members feel that the term is very confusing to the consumer,” she said, noting that under current FTC rules, something is only considered recycled if it’s “recovered from the waste stream”.
“Nobody is throwing gold in the trash,” Stevens said. “We’re in a difficult, if not impossible, situation in our industry, which is why we need a new definition. Right now it’s impossible for us to qualify.
Kevin Telmer, executive director of the Artisanal Gold Council, said about 20% of the world’s gold supply is mined by artisanal or small-scale miners, but their product is currently excluded from “responsible” supply chains.”These people are the most vulnerable, the most needy. There are a few bad actors that the media likes to focus on, but 99% of them are just good, hardworking people”.
However, there is a trend towards gold brands built around responsibly sourced, artisanally mined gold, and prestigious jewellery companies such as Chopard, Cartier and Breitling are starting to use it, says Olivier Demierre, president of the Swiss Better Gold Association.
While John Mulligan, director of market relations and climate change lead at the World Gold Council, said these products can have a positive impact, he cautioned that they represent a small proportion of supply. “They are absolutely contributing to progress, but they are doing so at the margins, on a very small scale,” he said. “Swiss Better Gold produces four tonnes [of artisanal/small-scale gold]. The US jewellery industry uses 150 tonnes. The global jewellery industry uses 1,800 tonnes.
“One of the big challenges is how to support structural change,” says Mulligan. “For all the great work that these niche vertical supply chains are doing, you need to have an impact on the mainstream.”
On another gold-related topic, in light of the US government’s recent warning that West African gold is funding Russian paramilitary group the Wagner Group, Stevens reminded attendees that they need to have an anti-money laundering programme in place and test it regularly.
But Charlie Betts, managing director of the Betts Group, which offers ‘single mine origin’ gold, argued that brands shouldn’t distance themselves from problematic areas. “When you get that State Department clearance, the easy answer is to avoid those regions, and we think that’s exactly the wrong thing to do. With single mine sourcing, we deliberately and specifically source gold from West Africa. Because that is where you can have the most impact.
Betts said that sourcing gold from a single producer allows a company to better control its supply chain and engage directly with the supplier. “There are some incredibly progressive large-scale miners who are doing things the right way and are having an incredible social and economic impact,” he said. They can transform an entire region in a way that small-scale projects can’t.
“Mining is not sustainable,” he added. “But what can be sustainable is how a region can be transformed when the mine is finished.”
The panel, held on 18 July at the Bohemian National Hall in New York City, was co-chaired by Initiatives in Art and Culture president Lisa Koenigsberg and the author of this article.
