The gold industry in Germany works almost exclusively with recycled material.

This clearly distinguishes it from the world market, where the recycling share is around one third, according to the precious metals trade association based in Pforzheim.

"This means that almost 100 percent of the gold produced in this country comes from recycling, with the exception of co-products from copper ores," said Managing Director York Tetzlaff of the German Press Agency.

This has to do with the fact that Germany is a country with few raw materials and there are no quality differences between mined gold and recycled gold.

Precious metals can be melted down and reused as often as you like.

There is also the sustainability aspect.

According to Tetzlaff, studies show that recycled gold has a carbon footprint that is 1000 times lower than material from mines.

How serious is the information?

"A few years ago there was still the attitude that recycling didn't go well with the emotional factor of gold," said the expert.

But with the change in the fashion industry, something has also happened in the gold sector: the European jewelry industry, for example, is increasingly relying on sustainable production through so-called recycling and upcycling of old gold, and some jewelers also offer special product lines with so-called fair trade gold.

But how serious is such information?

Tetzlaff emphasized that the local refineries have been certified several times.

Independent auditors check compliance with the requirements every year.

And in 2021, an EU regulation on the responsible procurement of raw materials came into force, which deals, among other things, with the protection of human rights, the rejection of criminal activities and environmental protection.

However, the industry is still waiting for Brussels to officially recognize the corresponding certification initiatives as planned.

Tetzlaff sees greater risks in complying with environmental and social standards, especially in small-scale mining, from which around ten percent of the world's primary gold came.

In the Arab and Asian region, for example, people often don’t pay so much attention to sustainable supply chains.

He admitted that such gold can come to Germany via detours.

"Unfortunately, that cannot be completely ruled out."

Michael Reckort sees it more critically.

He is a raw materials expert at the PowerShift association, which is committed to an ecological, solidarity-based energy and global economy.

"Unfortunately, as a consumer, you have little chance of tracking where the raw materials in end products - be it IT or jewelry - come from." An exception is certified Fairtrade gold, since there are usually short supply chains and direct supply relationships.

"Otherwise, only companies know - in part - their supply chains." It remains very difficult to understand the path taken by gold. There are repeated reports of gold from problematic mines. According to Reckordt, certificates increase credibility. But it is always necessary to ask what was certified and who was questioned.

The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation also has weaknesses such as threshold values ​​above which importers first have to prove their duty of care.

Nor does it target processed products containing these raw materials and manufactured outside the EU.