Signet is calling any previously used metal products repurposed, rather than recycled, moving away from a term that, while oft-used in the industry, has attracted controversy.
In Signet’s most recent sustainability report, CEO Gina Drosos said the company had “sourced more jewelry collections made with repurposed metals.”
Signet spokesperson Katie Spencer tells JCK: “Signet aligned on using repurposed as our terminology and not using recycled, because recycled should really only apply to products intentionally diverted from a waste stream. And gold is rarely if ever part of a waste stream.”
She says Signet has “generally” used the term repurposed, though it may have said recycled in the past.
Signet’s wording was flagged on LinkedIn by Andres Castellanos, the founder of Fairalloy.
Castellanos noted that the U.K. government–owned Royal Mint uses the term recovered gold, even though it sources “gold from genuinely recycled materials, such as electronic waste.”
Royal Mint chief growth officer Sean Millard told the Financial Times: “Recognizing there is currently no single definition for recycled gold, and that the term can be ambiguous for the consumer, we have purposefully chosen recovered as we feel this most accurately describes the process undertaken within our precious metals recovery plant.”
In its submission for the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides, the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) argued against the use of recycled gold, noting that items so labeled has often been shown to come from dubious sources.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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