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I have asked feedback from a diverse group of people. All had an interest in fashion and jewelry. All interviewees were Dutch.
50% female / 50% male
70% 20 - 30 years old
10% 31 - 40 years old
20% 50 - 60 years old
Not all were familiar with the concept of circularity: 50% had pre-knowledge on this topic, 50% not.

Do you know a project like this already exists?
None of the interviewees were familiar with a similar project like this one. 2 interviewees were familiar with circular jewelry made of plastic. The other interviewees were not familiar with circular jewelry. This is a valuable point: it confirms that people are not (yet) familiar with circularity. One of the aims of this project fits therefore perfectly with this point of critic, namely creating awareness for circularity.

Is it legally allowed to develop this project?
Interviewees believed it is allowed to develop this project. They did were skeptical about the techniques to create jewelry from e-waste, since these techniques are still under construction or not developed yet. But besides the techniques, they all thought the partnership with the municipality and university (scientists) is a good step towards feasibility and admission.

Do you think that this project contributes to the transition to a circular economy or is it an example of doing business as usual?
All interviewees said they thought this project is a good example of a contribution to the transition to a circular economy. By making use of waste stream materials, landfill, incineration, and thus CO2 emissions will be avoided. However, all believed that buying such circular products is not enough. The consumer really has to change its habits from the inside, if we want to see a major change in the world. It cannot only be solved by buying circular products. This was a really valuable point for me. It showed that people have to be educated before they can change their consumer behavior. Therefore, education is a main goal in this project.

What do you see as the potential impact of this project (both positive and negative)?
Most interviewees gave positive feedback about the localized production process and the use of waste materials. They saw a positive impact on the planet, as well as the municipality. However, they were skeptical about the impact of CO2 emissions. With the innovation of new technologies by scientists to make jewelry out of waste materials, CO2 emissions can occur during the design phase.

What other type of feedback do you have for me?
Additional valuable feedback was in regards to funding and feasibility. Since my starting point was aimed at creating a circular jewelry brand that is affordable for everyone, feasibility is difficult. Hence, almost all interviewees recommended focusing on a niche market in the higher segment. When the product is marketed as a luxury product, feasibility will become better. Therefore, I used this feedback to change my strategy from an affordable jewelry brand to a more high-end jewelry brand, focussed on circularity and aesthetics.

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Result phase

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Multiple values are created throughout this project. Firstly, environmental value is be created. Our jewelry is made of metals out of recycled e-waste. Thus, we are not directly supporting the gold industry. By not supporting the gold industry, environmental and health impacts such as land degradation, air pollution, and toxic waste will decline. Also, by developing new chemical techniques, e-waste can be transformed into several sorts of metal. Thus, the university can contribute to new techniques and research in the upcoming market of circularity. Secondly, social value is created. The municipality is a key partner. By making use of local resources and artisans, job opportunities are created. In return for these job opportunities, a transaction can be set between the municipality and the project. In return, the jewelry will be sold in local stores and promoted in the municipality. Thirdly, educational value is created. With this project, we want to raise awareness of the unethical gold industry. Also, we want to change the image of circularity. By creating a trendy, aesthetic brand, we show the consumers that a circular product does not have to be different than a regular, linear, product. Because we are aiming for a niche market as our target group, we can market the product as a luxury product. In this way, financial feasibility will be easier, since several stakeholders are involved that we need to pay, including the municipality for the e-waste, the university, and designers/artisans. Because we want to create the product locally, transport costs will be saved.

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The long-term effects of this business can be seen in the gold industry, as well as in the landfill industry. Due to the fact that we are using e-waste as our main resource, we are re-using waste streams. With this project, we are not contributing to the unethical gold industry and by creating awareness about the problems in this industry, we hope to change consumers decision making processes. Also, by making use of e-waste streams, we hope to achieve CO2 reduction, since landfill and incineration is eliminated. With this product, we also hope to make a local impact, since the production process is fully localized, which will also have a positive impact on CO2 emissions. Therefore, hopefully, the municipality will be positively impacted by this project. Trade-offs are therefore seen between the municipality, the scientists, and the artisans: will this project give them enough value? However, jewelry is a timeless accessory, it is used for ages. Hence, this project can be seen as a lasting project, since that is exactly our aim: creating aesthetic timeless jewelry. Nevertheless, it is hard to say in what time period the objectives will be reached. Since this project is focussed on a niche market, we are dependent on our consumers and thus on the market.

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Design Phase

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In this project, 2 strategies will be used, namely 'Life-cycle extension' and 'Design for recycling'. Due to usage of waste stream as main resource for our jewelry, the life-cycle of e-products is extended. Therefore, we are also making use of the strategy 'Design for recycling' since our product design is made of recycled products.

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Definition Phase

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Figure 1:  Overview of stages involved in metal recycling from electronic waste via  Rao, Singh, Morrison & Love (2020).

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Ogola, J. S., Mitullah, W. V., & Omulo, M. A. (2002). Impact of gold mining on the environment and human health: a case study in the Migori gold belt, Kenya. Environmental geochemistry and health, 24(2), 141-157.
Rao, M. D., Singh, K. K., Morrison, C. A., & Love, J. B. (2020). Challenges and opportunities in the recovery of gold from electronic waste. RSC Advances, 10(8), 4300-4309.

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For the core activities, the R-strategy plan is used, since this fashion project is making use of a circular model. Therefore, recycle, repurpose, and rethink can be seen as the strategies used from the R-model. By making use of the materials from e-waste through recycling, e-waste gets a new purpose, namely jewelry. By making use of waste materials, landfill and incineration is being avoided as well. Also, the winning of new gold is avoided, since we are making use of materials coming from waste that already exist. Hence, we are not contributing more to an unethical market. The product needs to reach the consumer. The business will be marketed via social media, since that is the target group we want to reach. With our story, we want to teach consumers about conscious and circular shopping choices. These choices do not have to be drastically different than the choices they are making at the moment. Therefore, rethinking is a big strategy as well in this company. We are trying to create awareness.

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This project needs collaboration of multiple stakeholders. Main stakeholders can be considered the municipality, scientists, artisans, and several awareness platforms. To start with, we need a collaboration the municipality. The municipality can bring us in contact with several local landfills, where we can collect our main resource, namely e-waste. The municipality can also help with funding, as well as provide contacts with local stores for the products. Also, a municipality creates consumers. Next, specialists in chemical techniques for gold recovery are key partners. Since I am a student myself, through students we can get in contact with scientists in Wageningen who are specialized in this process (see figure 1). Besides, since the municipality has good connection with the university, this strenghten the concept and perhaps they can fund the project. When the metal is developed, local designers and artisans (goldsmiths) will create the jewelry. Therefore, this concept will create job opportunities for local artisans, provided by the municipality. Not to forget, consumers are highly significant, the product has to reach the people. Therefore, (online) marketing and influencers can be seen as stakeholders as well. By collaborating with several influencers, the brand can create awareness on social media. Also to mention, since we produce this product locally, transport throughout the whole supply chain can be seen as a key partner but the distances are rather small.

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Circular model.

In this company, we are making use of a waste stream, namely e-waste, as main resource to make our product (jewelry). Hereby, we extend the use-phase of e-products. Therefore, the circular model fits the best as our businessmodel.

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This concept will have multiple value creation. Firstly, ecological value is created. A waste stream (E-waste) is used as main resource for a newly created product. Secondly, social value will be created. Awareness for the unethical gold mining and market will be created. By making use of material that is already produced, we try to decrease the ongoing demand of gold. With this decrease, we want to create awareness and teach our customers about the unethical practices in the gold market. Also, by producing the product locally, employment opportunities will be created for the municipality of Wageningen. Thirdly, economical value is created. With the creating of a brand, products can be produced and bought by customers, which creates economical value. Lastly, we want to distinguish ourself as a brand that is circular, but at the same time trendy. Therefore, creating aesthethic value is highly important.

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Making a circular jewelry brand that can be considered trendy, as well as timeless. By making use of materials coming from e-waste, local manufacturing through artisans will be supported instead of the ongoing unethical gold industry. In this way, awareness will be created for this social problem. In addition, durability and cyclability regarding e-waste streams will be improved.

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Currently, I am studying management & consumer studies. In my study program, we learn a lot about the ongoing consumer demand and how markets respond to this. One of the markets that are struggling a lot with this high demand is the gold mining industry. Due to a high consumer demand, this industry creates land degradation, deforestation, water- and air pollution,  and major amounts of toxic waste (Ogola, Mitullah & Omulo, 2002). Also, the job of the workers can be considered dangerous and unethical, including long working hours for a low wage. Thereby, a lot of gold is wasted. One of the biggest waste sources of gold can be considered e-waste, leading to high amounts of incineration of gold (Rao, Singh, Morrison, & Love, 2020). In brief, the environmental and health impact coming from this industry can be considered extremely high. Something has to change.
Gold is mostly used for jewelry. However, from my own experience, a lot of people buy cheap, fake, golden jewelry that they use for a short amount of time. Regarding environmental impact, this short time usage cannot be considered very sustainable.
Combining these problems to a new brand concept: a circular jewelry brand, created from e-waste.