Tuesday 16 July 2013

Fairphone: Buy a phone, start a movement


Electronics waste accounts for about 70% of toxic waste in landfills. More than 90% of the waste in a mobile's life cycle is discarded raw material. According to Nokia, for every tonne of final waste product (discarded phones), 21 tonnes of waste are created during manufacture and 189 tonnes during raw materials extraction and processing. During its lifetime (less than 2 years) a mobile phone has an average energy consumption of 260 megajoules (MJ) – 180 MJ for the manufacturing and 80 MJ for the usage phase. 260 MJ is enough to power 1,200 60 watt light bulbs for one hour. Multiply that by 35, which is the number of phones the average consumer will purchase during their lifetime.


Human rights concerns about the mining of critical materials for mobiles centre on tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold – collectively known as 3TG. The DRC and neighbouring countries provide 17% of global tantalum production, 4% of global tin production, 3% of global tungsten production, and 2% of global gold supply. Pressure is growing on global electronics companies to tighten their supply chains to avoid such abuses. A 2010 docu-drama Blood in the Mobile triggered widespread bad publicity about the mining of the mineral cassiterite, used in tin production for mobile phones, in the DRC. The filmmakers alleged child labour, prostitution of under age girls and poor working conditions in the mines, and claimed that revenue from the minerals was financing the war in the region.


Fairphone is a social enterprise started in 2010 to address many of these concerns about the social and environmental impacts of mobile phones. Fairphone aimed at raising awareness about conflict minerals in electronics and the wars that the sourcing of these minerals is fueling in the DR Congo. The campaign and research into the complex supply chain ran for 3 years. In 2013, they established the social enterprise with the aim of designing, creating and producing their first smartphone and taking the next crucial step in uncovering the story behind the sourcing, production, distribution and recycling of electronics.


The Fairphone is built around 5 principles:
  • Made with care -  transparent, long-term relationships with suppliers to ensure good working conditions and safe recycling practices
  • Smart Design - design that considers its full life cycle and gives you complete control over how use and configure it
  • Clear Deals - transparent price breakdown, ensuring buyers understand what their purchase is supporting
  • Lasting Value - extending the useful life of the phone and promoting e-waste recycling options
  • Precious materials - ensuring the sourcing of conflict-free minerals from the DRC, which don't fund illegal armed forces
Production has been crowdfunded through pre-orders, which allow them to make a first production run of 20,000 phones, 56% of which have already been pre-sold. For more information - or to join the movement - watch the video below or go to http://www.fairphone.com/.

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