Missoma and Central Saint Martins join forces to tackle jewellery waste

London-based jewellery brand Missoma and art school Central Saint Martins are partnering to repurpose and break down deadstock jewellery and waste metals, upcycling them into new designs.

Missoma said the initiative, called The Deadstock Project, was launched to support its fashion circularity ambition, with more projects to extend product lifecycles to be announced. The collaboration will see Missoma donate the company's deadstock jewellery to CSM, where the brand’s Head of Design is an alumni.

In a statement the jeweller said fashion students will create their own designs from deadstock materials with Missoma's Creative Director, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Design to guide them along the way. The winning design will be showcased across Missoma's social platforms.

Fewer greenhouse emissions

Recycled precious metals have a positive impact on the environment, with recycled gold producing up to 99.8 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than mined gold. Compared to platinum, recycled platinum has a 95 percent reduction on its impact and recycled silver saves 14 percent on emissions.

Of all the precious metals, gold mining is the largest polluter, and 51 percent of all gold that is mined is used for jewellery.

To put that in perspective, a ring made with newly mined gold with a carbon cost of up to 64kgs in greenhouse gas emissions might produce as little as 100 grams when made with recycled gold, says Benn Harvey-Walker, co-founder of Ethical Jewellery Australia.

To make the project as circular as possible, Missoma said its packaging is 100 percent recyclable and deliveries are carbon neutral.