THE IT LIST
The product: Michael Hill Re:cycle launches in Canada.
Why we love it: Australian jewelry brand Michael Hill has launched its gold recycling program in Canada.
Dubbed Re:cycle, the program has the retailer accepting old, unwanted and broken gold pieces, exchanging them for a store gift card.
“Following the overwhelming response in Australia, we made the conscious decision to roll out the program to Canada to further expand our impact and help us achieve a fully sustainable, responsible and circular product line by 2030,” said Daniel Bracken, chief executive officer of Michael Hill of the program that launched in Australia last year.
Gold jewelry pieces can be submitted via a free kit, available at either a Michael Hill store or online at recycle.michaelhill. com/en-ca/.
“Once the gold pieces are sent to Michael Hill's support office, they are assessed and valued by Michael Hill's experts, who use non-destructive testing called X-ray fluorescence analysis to ascertain the gold content of 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 applied to offer a quote.”
The value is offered in either a e-gift card or the pieces can be returned to the original address free of charge, according to Bracken.
“If they move forward 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