Thursday 11 January 2018

Dell spots golden opportunity with jewellery line

 
Technology giant Dell has released a jewellery line made out of gold from recycled computer motherboards.

The firm is collaborating with actress, entrepreneur and activist Nikki Reed to create the Circular Collection by Bayou with Love.

The limited edition range includes 14- and 18-carat gold rings, earrings and cufflinks and aims to highlight the importance of advancing a circular economy.

Dell has also announced a pilot to use recycled gold from used electronics in new computer motherboards - it is already doing so with plastics and other precious metals.

Dell says currently only 12.5% of electronic waste is recycled into other products and estimates the US throws away $60 million (£44.3m) worth of gold and silver every year through unwanted phones alone.

It claims the gold reclamation process its uses has a 99% lower environmental impact than traditionally mined gold.

Jeff Clarke, Dell Vice Chairman, said: "Materials innovation – where and how we source things like plastic, carbon fiber and now gold for our products – is increasingly important for us.

"When you think about the fact that there is up to 800x more gold in a ton of motherboards than a ton of ore from the earth, you start to realize the enormous opportunity we have to put valuable materials to work."