Scrap Gold Recycling Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the scrap gold recycling market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global scrap gold recycling market reached a value of nearly $13.5 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.23% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $13.5 billion in 2023 to $19.94 billion in 2028 at a rate of 8.11%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.95% from 2028 and reach $30.61 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from the increased interest in gold as an investment, labor shortages in the mining industry, trade restrictions on mined gold, rising trend of urban mining and high costs of waste disposal. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period include limited waste collection infrastructure.

Going forward, the rising consumer demand for gold jewelry, increased gold prices, increasing industrialization across various sectors, increase in electronic waste and stricter environmental regulations will drive the market. Factors that could hinder the growth of the scrap gold recycling market in the future include high processing costs of scrap gold and economic uncertainties or downturns.

The scrap gold recycling market is segmented by processing technique into pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical and other processing techniques. The hydrometallurgical market was the largest segment of the scrap gold recycling market segmented by processing technique, accounting for 55.19% or $7.45 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the hydrometallurgical segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the scrap gold recycling market segmented by processing technique, at a CAGR of 8.58% during 2023-2028.

The scrap gold recycling market is segmented by scrap into new scrap metal recycling and old scrap metal recycling. The old scrap metal recycling market was the largest segment of the scrap gold recycling market segmented by scrap, accounting for 55.97% or $7.55 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the old scrap metal recycling segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the scrap gold recycling market segmented by scrap, at a CAGR of 8.56% during 2023-2028.

The scrap gold recycling market is segmented by application into jewelry, electronics, dentistry and other applications. The jewelry market was the largest segment of the scrap gold recycling market segmented by application, accounting for 69.71% or $9.41 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the electronics segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the scrap gold recycling market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 9.07% during 2023-2028.

Asia-Pacific was the largest region in the scrap gold recycling market, accounting for 39.70% or $5.36 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by the Middle East, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the scrap gold recycling market will be Asia-Pacific and Africa, where growth will be at CAGRs of 9.21% and 8.81% respectively. These will be followed by the Middle East and South America, where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 8.51% and 7.85% respectively.

The global scrap gold recycling market is fairly fragmented, with a large number of small players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 12.21% of the total market in 2023. ARE Holdings Inc was the largest competitor with a 3.60% share of the market, followed by Umicore SA with 3.43%, Tanaka Holdings Co Ltd with 1.63%, Johnson Matthey plc with 1.44%, Royal Canadian Mint with 0.71%, Aurubis AG with 0.58%, Heraeus Holding GmbH with 0.36%, Elemetal LLC with 0.22%, Sino-Platinum Metals Co Ltd with 0.18% and Abington Reldan Metals LLC with 0.06%.

The top opportunities in the scrap gold recycling market segmented by processing technique will arise in the hydrometallurgical segment, which will gain $3.79 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the scrap gold recycling market segmented by scrap will arise in the old scrap metal recycling segment, which will gain $3.83 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the scrap gold recycling market segmented by application will arise in the jewelry segment, which will gain $4.52 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The scrap gold recycling market size will gain the most in China at $1.02 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the scrap gold recycling market include focus on advancements in precious metals recycling to reduce carbon footprint and enhance sustainability, expansion of online platforms offering high-purity recycled metals to meet growing demand for sustainable materials, strategic partnerships and acquisitions among major players, focus on innovative digital gold recycling and purchasing solutions to modernize consumer interaction with eco-friendly gold markets, focus on new eco-friendly recycling techniques utilizing biodiesel and recycled metals to drive sustainable practices in industry and introduction of gold extraction facilities to reduce mining dependence and enhance the efficiency of gold recovery.

Player-adopted strategies in the scrap gold recycling market include focus on leveraging strategic partnerships to introduce and enhance capabilities.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the scrap gold recycling companies to focus on sustainable recycling practices, focus on expanding online marketplaces for recycled metals, focus on digital solutions for enhanced consumer access, focus on eco-friendly recycling techniques, focus on sustainable extraction facilities, focus on the hydrometallurgical market segment, focus on old scrap metal recycling, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, focus on strategic partnerships and acquisitions, provide competitively priced offerings, continue to use B2B promotions, participate in trade shows and events and focus on the indirect electronics market segment.