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As part of our commitment to continuouslyminimise our
environmental footprint, PANDORA ProductionThailand
initiated a LifeCycleAssessment (LCA) project in2014 in
collaborationwith the Eco-Efficient Engineering Research
Laboratory (Eco-Lab) atMahidol University inThailand.
The project revealed a range of interesting findings, some
of whichwe have instantly been able to react upon.The
project also revealed shortcomings in the LCAmethodolo-
gy – not least due to lack of comparable data in available
environmental databases – leaving it up to the individual
company to estimate its impact rather than depending on
reliable third-party verified impact data.
PRECIOUS METALS
The LCAproject confirmed that recycling preciousmetals
will under effective controlled conditions remarkably re-
duce carbon emissions compared tomining.The Ecoinvent
Database Eco-Lab estimates that under proper conditions,
reusing gold and silver results inCO
2
emissions of as little
as 5% and 7% respectively compared to the emissions
associatedwithmining.Thismakes reused preciousmetals
extremely efficient in terms of potential CO
2
reductions.
As part of our efforts to advance social and
environmentally responsible sourcing practices 90% of
all gold used in PANDORAproducts in 2014 originated
from recycled sources.The remaining 10% originated from
minedmaterial that is certified conflict free.
When it comes to silver, 99%of the silver grains
sourced by PANDORA in 2014 originated from recycling.
The remaining 1% can be traced back to responsible
mining. Further, PANDORA isworkingwith our specialised
silver product suppliers to ensure that the silver used in
their products also originates from reused sources.
Thus PANDORA can guarantee that our silver is
environmentally friendly compared tominedmaterial.
However, as PANDORA is committed tohelp improve
ethics throughout the jewellery supply chain, wewill in
2015 start workingwithour suppliers to develop a standard
for responsible silvermining, aswe have also stated in the
PRODUCT chapter.
TRANSPORT
PANDORA jewellery is sold inmore than 90 countries
around theworld; hence PANDORA requires transport
services from a variety of different providers using different
types of transport - rail, sea, road and air - with various lev-
els of environmental impact.
Gold hearts being soldered on
to duotone “LOVE” charms.
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