Recycled gold is gold that was previously part of another piece of jewelry. Instead of newly mining gold for a new piece, it is melted down, refined, and recast to make a new piece.

The gold can be melted down almost infinitely and never lose its integrity. You simply need to add new alloys to make up the carat of the gold and you are ready to go. This means recycled gold is as high quality as any other source of gold.

Traceability is the ability to follow your materials from the beginning of the end of your supply chain. This means knowing every step from where your input resources come from, the labour used to manufacture your goods and all the steps required to get the finished product to your end customer who makes a purchase. This data and information plays two important roles that support sustainability.

1. It provides visibility on inputs and processes across the value chain
2. It provides the source information for provenance and sustainability certifications

You can not be truly sustainable or ethical if you don’t know this information and this has made traceability one of the most important terms in sourcing and production. 

Recycled gold is generally not considered completely ethical. The challenge is that the original source of the gold is often hard to trace. This means the original gold could have come from mines who are not using proper environmental standards, are not treating their employees properly or maintaining safe working conditions.

By most measures, traditional gold recycling is considered ethically neutral because you're not creating the additional impact required to extract the gold that is being reused. 

The world of sourcing is continually evolving and sustainability, traceability and ethical production are at the forefront of this change. Over the last several years, we have seen governments around the world add legislation that makes elements of ethical sourcing mandatory but it is not required. However, consumers are demanding more from their favorite brands and often make an effort to buy from brands that are more ethical, sustainable and traceable.