The Benefits of Recycling Sterling Silver and How I Do It

All the silver I buy now to create jewellery has already been recycled but I wanted to share with you how I also recycle the scrap silver that I have at home as well as answer some of the questions that I am often asked.

Why do I recycle my silver off-cuts?

With the cost of sterling silver rising so rapidly I’m trying to recycle more of my silver at home.  When I buy sterling silver sheet or wire from suppliers it’s already been recycled but the off-cuts that I generate when I make jewellery are perfect for recycling at home. 

There are also environmental benefits to recycling sterling silver. Silver mining can cause significant environmental damage, particularly through habitat destruction, water pollution and high energy use. Open-pit mining removes large areas of land and disrupts ecosystems, while the exposure of sulfide ores can contaminate rivers. The use of chemicals in the processing of the silver poses further risks to soil and water. In addition, silver extraction requires large amounts of water from the local environment and energy to run the machinery and refine the metal. This results in local resource depletion and increased carbon emissions.

For me, using recycled silver and recycling my own where possible feels like the right thing to do from both a financial and environmental point of view.

Is recycled silver different?

No, recycled sterling silver has exactly the same chemical properties as newly mined sterling silver.  It looks just the same and acts the same way when it is being soldered, cut or polished. 

What do I keep in my workshop?

All silver off-cuts and pieces that didn’t quite work are kept, nothing is thrown away.  I even keep silver dust caught in my bench apron and I have a cute little desk vacuum that I use on my desk and the floor around my desk – it’s surprising how much silver dust it collects. Keeping floor sweeps and items such as old sandpaper that has silver engrained in it can also be sent off to be recycled at an industrial level where they can extract the silver.

How I recycle my sterling silver off-cuts

It's very common to use a crucible and metal ingot moulds when recycling silver but, for me, I’m finding a charcoal block and my torch is working well for melting my silver and rolling it out into small sheets.

The first thing I do is select clean silver offcuts that don’t have any solder on them.  I don’t want to reduce the purity of the sterling silver by introducing solder which contains some other base metals such as copper and zinc.  Sterling silver is 975 parts per thousand pure silver, if it falls below this then it wouldn't be able to be hallmarked. I could add some fine silver granulation to a mix that included solder to ensure the purity was increased.

I pile these up on my charcoal block and add a spray of flux. This helps the silver to flow more easily, it also reduces oxygen exposure which can create bubbles, limits the copper oxide formation and helps to pull any impurities to the surface.

The fun part is heating this all up with my torch and watching as the silver melts and flows together to form a ball of molten silver.  I like to gently push down on the top of the silver sphere before it cools down to make it easier to initially pass through my rolling mill. 

Before using the rolling mill I put the blob of silver into my jewellers pickle to remove the metal oxides that are making it look dark and dirty.  I don’t want to roll these into the silver as I pass it through the rolling mill.

Once the silver blob is nice and clean I pass it though my rolling mill as few times.  The silver gets harder as it is worked and therefore I need to anneal it again with my torch to soften the molecules.  The cycle of cleaning in the pickle, passing through the rolling mill and annealing repeats itself a few times until I have a silver sheet of the required thickness.

It’s such a satisfying job. This newly recycled sheet of sterling silver is now ready for me to turn into a piece of jewellery. I wonder what it will become ...

Top Tips

• Use clean off-cuts of silver, make sure any protective coating has been removed and there is no solder.

• Gently flattening the silver while it is still molten helps to initially pass it through the mill, an alternative is to hammer it a few times.

• Anneal and pickle the silver frequently as you roll it out.  This softens it, allowing it to pass through the rolling mill easier and helps to prevent cracking at the edges. 

• Pickle the silver to prevent metal oxides being pushed into the silver from the rolling mill.

• Use callipers to determine the thickness of your silver sheet.

• If the edges are cracking like the silver in this image it's probably because the silver has become brittle.  Make sure that you keep annealing it to soften the silver and either cut off the crack or file it back to help prevent it getting worse.

• Enjoy creating something with your silver and remember that even if it doesn't work, you can always recycle the silver and start again.

HAVE FUN