14 DAY TRIAL // Four smelters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who sold “conflict minerals” to Apple have been dropped from the supply chain, the Mac maker said in its annual supplier responsibility report.
Published this week along with an update from Apple’s head of Operations, the 2015 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report notes ongoing efforts in disciplining suppliers.
Apple has suppliers in Africa too (not just Asia)
Most of the talks regarding Apple’s suppliers generally focus on China, but the company also does business with smelters in other parts of Asia, and even Africa. Most recently, it found that four such partners refused to be audited, and are believed to be fueling ongoing conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and surrounding areas.
Apple explains where the term “conflict mineral” comes from, saying that the extraction of these metals benefits groups that have been associated with human rights violations, and proceeds to enumerate some of these rare earths, such as tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold. The Cupertino giant pledges that it is dedicated to using only conflict-free minerals in its products.
“Unfortunately, even after extensive encouragement, there were four smelters that were unwilling to commit to be audited by a third party, so Apple put these smelters on notice that they will be removed from our supply chain,” it wrote in the report.
Apple doesn’t just talk, it acts
Despite being accused of failing to take action, Apple has proved on numerous occasions that it will do even more than it is required of it to address such situations.
A documentary aired by the BBC last year painted a grim picture about the conditions in which iPhone assemblers worked at Pegatron. Not all of the problems found there was Apple’s fault, but the BBC certainly made it look that way.
Apple’s complete Supplier Responsibility Progress Report can be found at the supplied link in PDF format.