The Benefits of Recycling Sterling Silver

As a studio silversmith, I'm passionate about recycling sterling silver scrap. When you recycle sterling silver, you're not only doing your part to help the environment, but you're also creating something beautiful and unique. Let’s dive into what makes recycled sterling silver so special and why it's important for us to recycle it.

Why is Recycling Sterling Silver Important?

Sterling silver is an alloy composed of 92.5% pure silver with 7.5% other metals, typically copper. Sterling silver is popular in jewelry-making because it is strong yet malleable and relatively affordable compared to other precious metals like gold or platinum. While it may be easy to think of sterling silver as a renewable resource due to its popularity, that isn't the case; the mining process can be incredibly damaging to the environment if done incorrectly and requires large amounts of energy. That's why recycling sterling silver is so important—it helps reduce our environmental impact by minimizing the need for mining new materials from the earth.

How Is Sterling Silver Recycled?

The process of