At acredo, we’re proud to say that our manufacturers are certified members of the Responsible Jewelry Council (RJC).
The RJC is the world’s foremost organization in charge of setting standards and certifications for the jewelry industry, covering everything from labor practices, business ethics, and social issues to environmentally conscious manufacturing.
What do the RJC’s environmental standards actually cover? Here’s a quick summary (the full list of standards can be found on the RJC’s website).
Environmental Management
RJC members are required to establish an environmental management system, subject to regular auditing from RJC authorities. This way, jewelry and materials manufacturers can be held responsible when it comes to the way their businesses impact the earth.
Members are also required to make their environmental management system known to their employees. That means companies need to provide training and any relevant information about the environmental risks and controls to anyone it may concern, in a format and a language that those workers can easily understand.
Hazardous Substances
The jewelry industry uses its fair share of hazardous substances — some of them are flammable, oxidising, corrosive, toxic, radioactive, or explosive — and they can pose serious threats to public health or the environment if they’re not handled properly.
Our RJC-certified manufacturers are required to keep an inventory of hazardous materials at all their facilities, communicating which substances are in use and their associated risks to any employee who works with them.
Our providers also use alternatives to hazardous substances wherever possible. As mining technology improves, the need for hazardous substances decreases, and we’re happy to have a provider at the leading edge of that initiative.
Waste Products and Emissions
It’s not just the substances that are used in the production of jewelry and processing of materials — it’s what manufacturers do with them once they’re no longer needed. RJC members are required to identify the significant waste products and emissions they produce that pose significant risks to air, water, and land pollution.
In particular, RJC members are required to keep track of exactly how much waste product they’re producing in order to track their progress over time and constantly strive for improvement in the area of waste production. They’re required to minimize waste wherever possible, applying principles of reduction, reuse, and recycling. Finally, our providers are required to reduce greenhouse gasses and increase energy efficiency wherever possible.
Use of Natural Resources
Jewelry production uses a significant amount of natural resources — gems and metals come directly from the earth, after all. That doesn’t mean that we can’t make every effort to manage those resources in a responsible fashion.
Whether it’s water usage, energy usage, or any of the other significant natural resources that are used in the jewelry business, RJC members keep careful track of the resources they use in an effort to use them as sparingly and efficiently as possible.
Looking to the Future
We’re dedicated to making beautiful engagement and wedding rings that will last you for a lifetime — but we want the Earth to last even longer! We know that the jewelry industry has had its fair share of bad reputation when it comes to environmental practices, but with advances in mining, refining, and sustainable energy sources, we’re confident that we can continue to produce world-class jewelry in an eco-friendly way for years to come.