Rise in Gold Recycling
At a time when the environmental impact of anthropogenic activities is taking severe tolls on our functioning and health, increase in any form of recycling can bring in a necessary breather for any society.
India’s increase of Gold Recycling of almost 13.6% in the July-Sept Quarter in comparison to the previous year is one such breather. We have Recycled almost 41.5 tonnes of gold in comparison to 36.5 tonnes, in the quarter of the previous year.
Costs and Benefits of Gold Recycling
It should be noted that Recycling Gold, produces up to 80% less Carbon emissions than extracting the same from Gold Ores, the requirement of chemicals etc. for purification and other processes is also less and the quality of gold remains well through out (as it has already gone through these processes). Thus, from a purely anthropogenic-environmental terms this might be a welcome step.
However, this rising trend of Gold Recycling might be hinging on the backs of reasons different from what may be generally perceived.
People sell gold for mostly 3 reasons, to make money when gold price is high, in a distress situation where loans are unavailable and liquidity is required and in order to further assets.
Recycling Gold due to price rise isn’t always the path people opt for as customers might also lose some value because of making charges or impurities in the gold.
“As such, it is reasonable to deduce that recycled gold is a small indicator of financial pressure on households” Somasundaram PR, managing director of the World Gold Council in India said.
India had seen an increase in recycling last year as well, when the economy was sluggish and gold prices were high, he added.
Gold Recycling as a Global Indicator
India isn’t the only country where recycling of gold has shot up.
Globally, the supply of recycled gold rose by 6% over a year ago to 376.1 tonnes in the July-September quarter this year. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, recycling of gold rose by a whopping 31%.
