August 17, 2012
Microsoft, Apple, Dell and HP among tech companies steering clear of ‘conflict materials’ from Congo in their high priced toys. But others, like Nintendo, Canon and Sharp, are getting a failing grade, says report.
August 17, 2012
Microsoft, Apple, Dell and HP among tech companies steering clear of ‘conflict materials’ from Congo in their high priced toys. But others, like Nintendo, Canon and Sharp, are getting a failing grade, says report.
Kiviu Mutedeteresa, 20, poses at a mineral processing factory at Bukavu, eastern Congo in 2004. A new report finds that less and less tech companies are using ‘conflict minerals’ sourced from war-ravaged areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to make smartphones and other devices.
Smartphone users have less blood on their hands now that tech companies are taking steps to use "conflict free" metals from the Congo.
Fewer and fewer tech companies are using "conflict minerals" sourced from war-ravaged areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to make smartphones and other devices, according to a report released Thursday by the advocacy group, the Enough Project.
Companies like Intel, HP, Dell, Microsoft and Apple have begun to trace the metals used in their devices, even using an auditing system for smelters responsible for processing the raw metals.
A verification system is also being put in place to determine whether the metals used in most gadgets – gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten – are "conflict free."
Since 1998, approximately 5.4 million people have died in the Congo due to war-related causes, according to the International Rescue Committee.
Competition over minerals in northeastern Congo has dramatically empowered armed militias, leading to the slaying of thousands of residents.
The companies' efforts have already made an impact on the area, the Enough Project said in its report, "Taking Conflict Out of Consumer Gadgets."
Armed groups in central Africa have made 65 percent less money on the three main conflict materials – tin, tantalum and tungsten – in the two years since the companies began paying more attention to the source of those materials.
Not everyone, however, is moving forward with plans to verify that the metals do not help armed fighters in the Congo, the Enough Project said.
Companies like Nintendo, Canon, Nikon, Sharp and HTC all received low ratings in Enough Project's report, meaning that they've taken little to no steps to source the materials.
Nintendo got a rating of zero.
"Nintendo is, I believe, the only company that has basically refused to acknowledge the issue or demonstrate they are making any sort of effort on it," Sasha Lezhnev, senior policy analyst at the Enough Project, told CNN.
"And this is despite a good two years of trying to get in contact with them."
In a statement to CNN, Nintendo said that it "outsources the manufacture and assembly of all Nintendo products to our production partners and therefore is not directly involved in the sourcing of raw materials that are ultimately used in our products."
The Enough Group said that there is much work to be done, though progress has been made.
"Despite the progress made in the past year by both governments and industry, a long road still lies ahead," the group says in its report. "Exploitation of Congo's mineral resources continues to exacerbate conflict and instability on the ground and consumers are still largely in the dark as to whether or not their products are conflict free.
Courtesy: nydaily
