Material Investigations | Cooksongold: 100% Recycled Silver & Gold

Here in the UK, Cooksongold is well-known as a professional jewellery making supplier, including of our Material Investigations subject– gold. Cooksongold now stocks an extensive range of 100% recycled silver and gold bullion. To find out more and present an overview of Cooksongold’s commitment to a more traceable supply chain, we have been in touch with representative Abby Blest to answer our questions. 

This post is part of our Material Investigations: Gold series that investigates options for sourcing traceable gold through Q&A style articles. The Scottish Goldsmiths Trust does not verify any of the claims made by interviewed suppliers but instead aims to introduce diverse types of traceable gold available to purchase, allowing you to make further enquiries to inform your metal sourcing. For more information read the series introduction below:

Tell us about your commitment to 100% recycled silver and gold through your bullion ranges?

At Cooksongold we understand that jewellery making, and the manufacturing processes associated with it, are closely associated with our planet’s health. We are the UK’s leading manufacturer and retailer of precious bullion products, tools and equipment to the jewellery industry and we are committed to striving towards being more environmentally conscious. From our initial research as part of reviewing our carbon footprint, it was clear from the outset that the biggest change we can make to reduce our carbon footprint is to remove newly mined precious metal from our supply chain. To support this, we now only offer recycled bullion within our gold and silver bullion products, which are now made using 100% recycled precious metals.

This is an area Cooksongold have been working in for some time, could you share more about the history of the EcoSilver range and how this influenced the decision to expand into recycled metals further?

The original EcoSilver range was Cooksongold’s first response to a demand in the market for responsibly sourced precious metal, allowing consumers to choose a sustainable approach when working in silver. There was an overwhelmingly positive response towards the introduction of the EcoSilver range, signifying a growing market desire for a wider variety of sustainably sourced precious metal bullion. Providing the EcoSilver range influenced Cooksongold to take the responsibility of choosing to make environmentally sustainable purchases away from the customer and instead place full responsibility on ourselves, as the manufacturer, to provide a singular environmentally sustainable bullion product without compromising on price or quality.  

Cooksongold 100% Recycled range logo

Can you explain the product supply chain? (Where the post-consumer metal comes from, how it’s processed, and how it gets to the consumer- touching on who is involved where relevant)

Cooksongold work with trusted and well established metal refineries to insure that our gold supplies are 100% recycled. Within the wider Heimerle + Meule Group we are able to account for all of our own recycled silver, being completely self-sufficient in this process. 100% of the precious metal in our silver and gold bullion is not newly mined and has been used within another process prior.

Is there any difference between the EcoSilver range and the broader 100% recycled commitment?

The most notable difference is the incorporation of 100% recycled gold alloys into Cooksongold’s gold bullion and gold wedding ring blanks ranges. Another notable difference is the diversification of our recycled silver range to include all silver bullion sold by us as well as all silver ring blanks and some silver and gold findings. The current recycled range allows for the scope to expand and meet our long term goals.

How do you certify the process? (Ensure that no ‘unverified/new’ metals enter the supply chain?) Is there third-party auditing of the process? 

Our in-group refineries are audited by the RJC to ensure our gold is 100% recyclable. Silver will be part of this audit later in 2022.

What are your key goals moving forward? 

We aim to continue to expand upon all elements of our ethical policies and to improve the overall environmental consciousness of Cooksongold. In the future we will continue to assess areas across the business, in addition to our current 100% recycled precious metal alloy ranges, to determine the changes we need to make to strengthen our ethical and environmental policy. We are in discussion with our suppliers of other precious metal goods, such as chain and findings, to be able to offer these made from recycled metals.

Gold sheet manufacturing.

How has this commitment been received so far?

This commitment has been received well across the board, with consumers showing an interest in the expansion of our recycled metal ranges.

If you can offer us insight into your sustainable development strategy, what areas are you hoping to improve or innovate in?

In addition to our recycled bullion range, we are actively improving in many aspects of our carbon footprint. One key contribution toward addressing our carbon footprint is our recent partnership with Ecologi, through this partnership we are working towards a fully climate positive workforce by 2025. Additionally we are currently working on a project with a leading University in order to address our carbon footprint, this project will enable us to understand our current carbon footprint better, and then provide additional commitments and investments to address and reduce our footprint. As always we will continue to explore new and innovative ways to improve our environmental impact as a company.

Thank you, Abby, for answering our questions and sharing further information on Cooksongold’s 100% recycled silver & gold commitment.  

Further reading and watching on Cooksongold is linked below: 

100% Recycled Gold and Silver Bullion by Cooksongold