The environment is being destroyed by an addiction to devices. Neil Mohr investigates one company trying to turn the tide.
The figures are stark: 1.2 billion phones are made every year and there’s just shy of 18 billion mobile devices in operation today, an T incredible 2.5 devices for every human on the planet. What makes these figures worrying is the majority are manufactured in ways that make them effectively disposable consumables – if they’re damaged or reach the end of their usable life, for many the most cost-effective solution is simply to bin them.
Certainly, recycling and reselling help extend device usefulness, but no matter how recyclable or repairable devices become, there’s still a price that’s paid beyond the device itself. Inside all digital devices are rare-earth elements, some of which – such as tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold, also called 3TGs – are known as conflict minerals, largely as their mining and sale are used to fund killings, violence and other human rights abuses in and around the areas they’re mined.
It’s such an issue that back in 2009, the US tried to introduce the Congo Conflict Minerals Act. While that failed, it started the ball rolling on forcing industries to publicly report their source of conflict minerals, with US legislation being introduced in 2010 – though part of it was struck down in 2014 by US courts for violating corporate free speech, if you can get your head around that. Intel was the first electronics company to publish details on conflict-free supply chains in 2012.
It’s good to note that these legislations do have an effect, as Intel has continued to invest and evolve its supply chains to try to improve fairness, sustainability and corporate responsibility. Intel has a 2030 RISE (Responsibility Inclusivity Sustainable Enabling) goal and the aim of net-zero for its entire operation by 2040. You can read more at https://intel.ly/49LhLdq.
As crucial as it is for large industry players such as Intel to be involved in evolving something as complex and as messy as the raw-materials supply chain, it’s different when it comes to delivering what you might consider to be an ethically sourced, manufactured and supported end device. That’s where Fairphone comes in. The Dutch company formed in 2013 and debuted the Fairphone 1 smartphone in December that year.
The sheer scope of creating an ethical device is overwhelming when you consider all it encompasses. It’s easy to focus on consumer-impacting features such as removable battery, replaceable modules and ultra-long warranties, but what about delivery, carbon-neutral energy generation, paying support staff, ewaste disposal, third-party working conditions and the environmental impacts of mineral extraction? If you’re interested in just
