The product: Michael Hill Re:cycle is launched in Canada.
Why we love it: Australian jewelry brand Michael Hill has started its gold recycling program in Canada.
Called Re:cycle, the program allows the retailer to accept old, unwanted, and broken gold pieces and exchange them for a store gift card.
“After a great response in Australia, we decided to expand the program to Canada to further increase our impact and work towards a fully sustainable, responsible, and circular product line by 2030,” said Daniel Bracken, chief executive officer of Michael Hill, about the program that was introduced in Australia last year.
Old gold jewelry pieces can be submitted using a free kit, which is available at a Michael Hill store or online at recycle.michaelhill.com/en-CA/.
“Once the gold pieces are sent to Michael Hill’s support office, experts assess and value them using non-destructive testing called X-ray fluorescence analysis to determine the gold content of the jewelry,” Bracken explains. “The amount of pure gold is calculated by combining the gold percentage and jewelry weight, and then the current market rate is used to provide a quote.”
The value is offered in the form of an e-gift card, or the pieces can be returned to the original address free of charge, according to Bracken.
“If they go ahead with the exchange, the gold is then recycled by melting it down and refining it until it reaches its purest form, ready to be transformed into something new,” Bracken says. Since the launch of Re:cycle, the jewelry company has recycled almost $350,000 worth of gold.
“With this amount of gold, we have been able to save an estimated 11,000 tonnes of mining ore and 60 tonnes of emissions,” Bracken said.
The price: Assorted.
The retailer: Michael Hill, michaelhill.com.
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