The 'Re-Use' Economy and Jewellery
Watch out for buzz-words like the ‘re-use economy’.
The ‘re-use’ or ‘circular’ economy is undoubtedly a good thing. In simple terms, it means looking to re-use products and materials, rather than disposing of them and replacing them with new ones. Or, recycling them in a responsible way so that the materials can be used to make new products. No one can say no to that, right?
Buzzwords are not by definition bad; they become useful shorthand to describe new and complex topics. However, they commonly get co-opted and misused to help to associate things that are not helpful, relevant, or ethical with a movement that is. Often, they form an important part of any greenwashing campaign and they are especially dangerous when people stop thinking critically about that they mean.
The basic premise of the re-use economy is that re-using more stuff will lead to less consumption of raw materials and less energy in manufacturing, meaning an overall decrease in emissions, pollution, land use etc. There is little doubt that reducing all of these things is important and that, in many cases, increasing the recycling of these materials will lead to less extraction, less manufacturing, and less damaging effects overall.
However, this isn’t the case for many of the materials used in jewellery and the terms ‘re-use’ or ‘circular economy’ can often be thrown around in an attempt to justify describing ‘recycled’ metals as ethical or sustainable.
In previous posts, we’ve touched upon ‘greenwashing’ in the jewellery industry and at the moment we feel like the mislabeling of recycled gold as ‘ethical’ or ‘sustainable’ is the most prevalent.
The recycling of gold and other precious metals is technically part of the circular economy, however, it’s not going to change the world because this particular part of the ‘circular economy’ is nothing new.
The sorry state of gold mining in 2020 and the damage it causes has not come about because we aren’t recycling enough gold. Gold has always been recycled; people don’t throw away gold and close to 100% of the gold ever mined is still being used for its original purpose, or has been recycled in some way. There is no relationship between the amount of gold that is recycled and the amount of gold that is mined. By using ‘recycled’ gold, you are not helping to reduce mining.
Recently we’ve been involved in conversations where we have questioned why ‘recycled’ gold is being touted as a more ethical or sustainable alternative to normal gold. In response, we’ve been told that it’s important to support the ‘re-use’ economy. Unfortunately, this suggests that these buzzwords are being used with little thought as to what they actually mean and what impact they really have.
I’m not doubting the good intentions of any communicators who are trying to engage with customers about the issues in the jewellery supply chain, however, it’s vitally important that the messaging around sustainability in the jewellery industry is consistent and accurate.
In our, and many other people’s opinions, the most ethical and sustainable options for buying precious metals are either Fairmined or Fairtrade gold, grassroots organisations which work with small scale miners in developing countries. The ‘re-use economy’ is not the only game in town.
Responsible Recycling
Some gold is recycled very close to where it is remade into products. For instance, if you take some jewellery to your local jeweller to sell as ‘scrap’ then it will almost certainly go to a refiner in the UK and then sold back onto the UK market. However, this isn’t true for all gold and some of it is recovered in appalling conditions by some of the poorest people in the world with significant environmental impact.
Gold is used widely in electronics as well as jewellery and while some electronics are recycled in a safe and responsible way many are not, especially in developing countries.
We’re definitely not trying to demonise people who recover metal from electronics in places like
Agbogloshie in Ghana. They need help as much as small scale miners however we shouldn’t pretend that the metal recovered there and then refined and sold back onto the market has been responsibly recycled. There is definitely potential to help these people to take advantage of the economic opportunity that they have in a way that does not put their health and their environment at risk.
If you think that gold mined in desperate conditions is exploitative then you’ll probably agree that gold recycled in awful conditions is too.
There are projects in Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia to safely recycling electronics though it is far from the norm.
All this being said, even if you are buying jewellery that is made from ‘responsibly recycled’ gold then its important to remember that this has no impact in the amount of gold that is mined and does nothing to combat the ills of gold mining.
‘Recycling’ is not by definition better than mining gold.
The bottom line is please think critically about all claims and whether they have the impact you would like them to have.