Recycling your jewellery

 

“Recycled jewellery offers the option to make something new from items that have perhaps been banished to the outer drawers of the jewellery box!

I believe we must re-use the jewellery and materials that we already have. We don’t need more holes in the ground, which comes with its own environmental impact. It’s a win-win situation for the planet. We buy fine metals that come from recycled sources, the metal is exactly the same as newly mined, there is no difference”

Anna Lou

How it works:

  1. Contact us and we will email you a free postage label.
  2. Find any pieces of jewellery that are made of Sterling Silver or Solid Gold ( all silver must be stamped 925 or gold to be hallmarked)
  3. Your old pieces get recycled for future production in the Anna Lou workshop. 
  4. You get a £20 voucher to shop at Anna Lou of London

Recycling silver makes Jewellery with a fabulous back story!

We are dedicated to our sterling silver recycling. We promise it won’t affect the quality of the pieces but it will affect the world around us all for the better. It’s wonderful to give something back to nature after we have borrowed from it for so long.

6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RECYCLED STERLING SILVER

Recycling materials is second nature to us but how does melting down silver work?

1. What is recycled sterling silver?

Recycled sterling silver is precious silver extracted from used metal products. We melt it down in our workshop and reuse it to make new silver products.

2. Is recycled sterling silver as high quality as non recycled sterling silver?
yes. Nothing is lost in the process of extracting sterling silver from used sterling silver items. After the melting down of a sterling silver piece, the bar silver produced at the end of the process is still pure silver. So if 925 sterling silver jewellery is recycled, 92.5% pure silver is extracted.

3. How do you recycle sterling silver?

Small scale silver recycling is what the Anna Lou silversmiths do, using traditional methods of silver extraction.

It’s a meticulous and time-consuming practice done by hand as you can see from our film on the insta highlights or Click to watch full video.

It is melted at a high temperature where it melts into liquid. The liquid is poured into a container which holds cold water causing the pure silver to separate, becoming a lump which is then turned into new jewellery !

 4. Can recycling sterling silver help to save energy and greenhouse gas emissions?

Yes, recycling silver can save a vast amount of energy and carbon emissions.

During metal mining, an incredible amount of electricity and energy is used to extract metal ore, not to mention the ongoing meltingand processing operations which emit greenhouse gases. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries claims that recycling metal can cut harmful emissions that cause global warming by anywhere from 300 to 500 million tons. Recycling sterling silver is no different. The process of silver recycling is dramatically less damaging in terms of CO2 emissions and pollution as well as expending far less energy.

5. Can recycling sterling silver help the Amazon rain forest and save animal lives?

Metal mines consume thousands of acres of land in the Amazon rain forest. Over the years countless trees have been slashed and burned to clear space. As a result of this deforestation, intricate plant and wildlife ecosystems are destroyed, habitats are lost and both animal and plant life perishes. But It isn’t just the Amazon rainforest either. Wherever metals are mined, irreversible effects on the environment occur.

When we look at The Grasberg Mine in Papua, Indonesia the largest gold mine and third-largest copper mine in the world, we can see how the waste minerals and rocks from the mining process can be toxic through acid drainage affecting both animal, plant and human life. It can also affect the air. Toxic substances seep into the air and water. Environmental dangers come about like landslides as a result of mining too, as discussed in this wordpress page devoted to the issue. Recycling metal reduces mining waste by an incredible 97% according to greenmatters.

6. How can I recycle some of my own old silver jewellery?

Quite easily. Send us your old silver items for. £20 voucher code to use on our website and in no time your silver items could be melted down and reused, earning you credit on Anna Lou in no time.


Who knew recycled silver could help in so many ways? From saving plants, animal life and ecosystems to reducing CO2 emissions, toxic waste and energy, recycled silver and in fact all recycled metals offer a more sustainable solution to a great environmental problem.

 

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