Pandora announced that it will cease using newly mined silver and gold in its jewelry by 2025 and only buy from recycled sources.
“Silver and gold are beautiful jewellery materials that can be recycled forever without losing their quality,” said CEO Alexander Lacik. “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 jewellery, and prevent that these fine metals end up in landfills. We want to do our part to build a more circular economy.”
Today, 71% of the silver and gold in Pandora’s jewelry comes from recycled sources, the company said in a press release. Shifting completely to recycled silver and gold will reduce carbon dioxide emissions, water usage and other environmental impacts because recycling of metals uses less resources than mining new metals. The carbon emissions from sourcing of recycled silver are one-third compared to mined silver, while recycling of gold emits a tiny fraction of the carbon that mining new gold does, 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,” Lacik said. “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 jewellery more sustainable.”
Silver is the most used material in Pandora jewelry, accounting for over half of all purchased product materials measured by weight. Pandora also uses smaller volumes of gold, palladium, copper and human-made stones such as nano-crystals and cubic zirconia.
The decision to use only recycled silver and gold covers all use of these metals in Pandora’s jewelry, including grains, semi-finished items such as chains, and other parts from suppliers.
Today, about 15% of the world’s silver supply comes from recycled sources. More than half of the recycled silver comes from industry, where the metal is used in chemical production and electronics and for other purposes.
Pandora 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 Responsible Jewellery Council, according to the release. Pandora will also engage with key stakeholders in the supply chain to explore opportunities for increasing the availability of recycled silver and improve production standards.
The decision to use recycled precious metals follows Pandora’s decarbonization targets announced in January. In 2020, Pandora plans to source 100% renewable electricity at its two jewelry crafting facilities in Thailand, and by 2025 the company will be carbon neutral across the entirety of its operations. Pandora has also joined the Science Based Targets initiative – the leading corporate collaboration for action on climate change – and will publish a plan next year to reduce carbon emissions in its full value chain in line with the Paris Agreement.