HO CHI MINH CITY – Danish jewelry maker Pandora has opened what it calls the world’s largest fine-jewelry production facility in Vietnam, a $150 million site powered entirely by renewable electricity and dedicated to using 100% recycled gold and silver.
The factory reflects a growing priority across the jewelry industry: limiting the environmental damage linked to precious-metal production while keeping pace with rising consumer demand. Recycled gold and silver reduce reliance on newly mined materials, although experts say the transition depends on dependable supply networks and rigorous supply-chain transparency.
Located in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam, the facility can produce as many as 60 million jewelry pieces annually. That will lift Pandora’s manufacturing capacity by 50% while reducing its carbon footprint by 17%, CEO Berta de Pablos-Barbier told The Associated Press.
“We are leading the way and we really hope that the rest follow,” she said.
Pandora expands in Vietnam as manufacturers seek clean power
After 37 years of manufacturing in Thailand, Pandora decided to broaden its production footprint to gain flexibility and make its supply chain more resilient, Pablos-Barbier said.
Vietnam was selected for its skilled artisans, who can meet Pandora’s craftsmanship requirements, as well as its business climate and strong infrastructure, she said.
Reliable access to renewable energy for factory operations is becoming an “important factor” for Pandora and other Danish businesses, said Lina Gandløse Hansen, Denmark’s ambassador to Vietnam.
The Vietnam plant employs 7,000 people and will run entirely on renewable power generated by the sun and wind. Pandora has installed solar panels on the facility’s rooftops and plans to source additional electricity from local solar farms.
The site is also located across the road from a $1 billion Lego factory opened in 2025. The toy company says the plant produces toys without adding planet-warming gases to the atmosphere.
Vietnam has rapidly built up its renewable-energy sector, recording Southeast Asia’s largest installed solar and wind capacity at the end of 2024. Coal, however, remains a major source of electricity for the country’s fast-growing economy. That makes the shift toward cleaner power critical as Vietnam pursues its goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
Manufacturing accounts for one-fifth of Vietnam’s gross domestic product and consumes half of the nation’s energy. The country has plans to retire its coal-fired power plants by 2040.
Using recycled gold and silver to make jewelry
Pandora’s decision to use recycled gold and silver represents a “big deal,” said Saleem H. Ali, who heads the critical minerals and inclusive energy transitions program at the United Nations University.
Gold is particularly suitable for recycling because it does not degrade or rust, unlike metals such as copper, Ali said. Silver can also be reused, though it may tarnish and require cleaning.
“That is why it is so valuable. We still have gold from the ancient Egyptians, in pretty good shape,” he said.
Pandora began using 100% recycled silver and gold in its new jewelry in August 2024.
The company’s factories receive small grains of refined metal from recyclers in Europe and Asia. The material comes from a wide range of sources, including medical equipment and discarded cutlery, said Pandora Chief Sustainability Officer Mads Twomey-Madsen.
Maintaining that standard requires Pandora to identify suppliers, smelters and refiners that handle only recycled materials. Ali warned that some operators could mix newly mined metal into recycled supplies, making strict oversight essential. “That involves a lot of auditing,” he said.
Pandora began overhauling its broader supply chain five years ago by adopting standards from the Responsible Jewellery Council, an industry organization focused on responsible business practices involving human rights, labor rights and environmental impacts, Twomey-Madsen said. The company relies on independent auditors to verify compliance.
He said the ultimate goal is for the entire supply chain, including the energy-intensive process of heating and separating metals from other materials to remove impurities, to be powered by clean energy.
Other challenges include urban mining and tracing gold
Recovering valuable metals from discarded products and other waste is a challenge, Twomey-Madsen said.
The world is producing more e-waste than ever — 62 million metric tons in 2022, projected to grow to 82 million metric tons by 2030, according to a report by the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union and research arm UNITAR. Much of this is processed informally, where workers can be exposed to toxic substances while recovering valuable metals such as gold and silver.
More than 1,000 harmful substances have been found in e-waste or produced when it is improperly recycled, including lead, mercury, cadmium and other toxic chemicals, according to the World Health Organization.
Ali, the critical minerals expert, said that artisanal gold mining — when individuals or small groups extract gold using simple tools — was now the largest cause of mercury pollution worldwide. Miners in poor countries may use the toxic metal to separate gold from other materials, harming people and the environment.
He said there have been efforts to improve gold sourcing, but tracing gold remains difficult. South Asia, in particular, has high demand for gold and jewelry sellers often don’t ask where their gold comes from.
“Once it gets melted, it’s very hard to track it,” he said.
Twomey-Madsen said that the company hopes its commitment to buying recycled metals will show suppliers that there is a growing market for the materials. He added that Pandora initially paid a premium for recycled gold and silver, absorbing the higher cost and investing with suppliers to build a more reliable supply chain for the materials.
Making jewelry is far less emissions-intensive than sectors such as aviation or cement. But he said a switch by the entire industry switching to recycled gold and silver could prevent about 58 million metric tons (63.9 million U.S. tons) of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year.
“That is comparable to the entire emissions of New York City,” he said.
___
Ghosal reported from Hanoi, Vietnam
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
