Recycled Gold
Recycled Gold
Refined gold from post-consumer scrap and industrial sources
Recycled gold is gold refined from post-consumer scrap, industrial waste, dental and electronic recovery, and old stock — any source other than newly mined ore. Once refined to the standard purities of the trade, recycled gold is chemically and physically indistinguishable from primary gold, and it carries no impurities or properties that distinguish it in finished jewellery. The category is defined by chain of custody rather than by chemistry: a gold bar marked as recycled is gold that can be documented to a non-mining source.
The supply chain
The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) operates the principal accreditation regime for gold refiners. The LBMA's Responsible Gold Guidance and Good Delivery rules require accredited refiners to maintain auditable chain of custody for both newly mined and recycled material. The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) operates a parallel Chain of Custody standard that allows brands and refiners to document recycled-content claims through to finished jewellery. Recycled gold supply enters refineries primarily from scrap dealers, retail buy-back programmes, dental laboratories, electronics recycling operations, and bullion recoveries from old investment stock.
Approximately one third of the annual global gold supply originates from recycled sources in any given year, with the proportion varying with bullion price; higher gold prices encourage more scrap recovery. The recycled component of jewellery alloys is therefore substantial in any market, whether or not specifically claimed. Refining processes — typically the Miller chlorination process for high-purity recovery, or the Wohlwill electrolytic process for the highest purities — bring scrap to 99.99 percent or 99.999 percent gold, with the same purity specifications as primary refined material.
What recycled gold is not
The recycled designation is supply-chain language, not a chemical or quality category. Recycled gold can be alloyed to any standard carat — 9, 14, 18, 22 — using the same alloying recipes as primary gold, and the finished alloy performs identically in casting, fabrication, and wear. Surface treatments and platings work the same way. There is no test that distinguishes recycled from primary gold once both are refined and alloyed; the distinction relies entirely on documentation through the supply chain.
The category is also not the same as Fairmined or Fairtrade Gold, which are certifications applied to small-scale and artisanal mined gold meeting specific social and environmental standards. Fairmined gold is mined gold; recycled gold is not mined. Some brands combine both — a portion of recycled and a portion of certified mined material — and disclose the proportions.
In the trade
For brands, recycled gold supports sustainability positioning and is increasingly required by retail and corporate procurement standards. RJC Chain of Custody certification provides the auditable basis for verified claims; without it, generic recycled gold language is unverifiable marketing. Many of the larger jewellery groups have committed to 100 percent recycled or certified-mined gold across their supply chains, and the major LBMA refiners now offer recycled-only product lines for brand customers.
For consumers, recycled gold is identical in performance to primary gold of the same carat and alloy specification, so the choice is values-based rather than technical. The price of recycled gold tracks the bullion market closely; the chain-of-custody documentation does not by itself add a significant cost premium, although certified-recycled finished jewellery may be priced above otherwise equivalent pieces to capture sustainability positioning. Independent jewellers and small workshops can source recycled-content metal through accredited refiners and bullion suppliers without the full RJC apparatus, but the resulting product cannot carry the same auditable claim as RJC-certified output.