Macy’s, the fifth biggest retailer of gold jewellery in the US, has been targeted by No Dirty Gold activists.
Macy’s and Costco are the only two out of the top 10 US jewellery retailers to not have signing the No Dirty Gold campaign’s ‘Golden Rules’ for more responsible metals sourcing.
No Dirty Gold campaign director Payal Sampat said the two retailers are lagging behind the more than 80 jewellery retailers from around the world who have made a meaningful commitment to clean up their gold supply chain.
“Dirty gold must become a thing of the past,” she said.
“No one wants their jewellery tainted with human rights abuses or toxic pollution but this can’t happen unless companies like Macy’s commit to cleaning up their supply chains and sign the Golden Rules.”
Last month No Dirty Gold activists hung a balloon banner at Macys’ Washington, DC flagship store that said “Macy’s: Don’t Break Our Hearts. Dump Dirty Gold.’
“Until Macy’s ends its love affair with dirty gold, the company’s commitment to sustainability and transparency is just a bunch of hot air,” said No Dirty Gold campaign coordinator Nick Magel.
According to Sampat, securing jeweller commitments to end dirty gold production is a crucial step because approximately 80 percent of newly mined gold is made into jewellery.
She said the world’s largest jewellery retailers including Tiffany & Co, Target, Sears/Kmart and JC Penney have all committed to taking steps to clean up irresponsible gold mining such as revising their supplier sourcing criteria to include the Golden Rules and increasing recycled gold content while some have even signed the Bristol Bay Pledge to refuse gold from the proposed Pebble mine in Alaska.
“Macy’s remains one of the last major jewelry retailers to sign the Golden Rules.
“The department store chain, which includes Bloomingdale’s, is the fifth-largest retailer of gold jewellery in the United States. Costco, the ninth largest, has also failed to take responsible action to keep dirty gold out of its supply chain.”