Three main methods are used to recycle silver:
- Old jewelry and similar products are melted down
- Products from the photo industry where the silver is recycled by electrolytic processes and then melted down.
- Electronic waste, a more complicated process where the silver is recycled from the solution formed when copper and other metals are recovered, and then electrolytic processes and melting are used.
The silver in our jewelery mainly come from products from the photo industry, and to a lesser extent from old jewelry and residual products in manufacturing that are melted down.
Compared with using new silver, the climate impact is about 70% lower when using recycled silver. To produce one kg of new silver, the equivalent of 100 kg of CO2 is used.
In 2021, the use of 100% recycled silver in Syster P’s jewelery have saved about 25 tonnes of CO2 compared to new silver. This corresponds to, for example, 135 round trip flights to Berlin, or if you take the train you can go there 6200 times!