Finally, a mobile device you can feel good about—not because it’s shiny and new, but because it’s ethically made and built to last
Bas van Abel wanted a phone that worked well enough, but avoided the conflict mineral issues and harsh working practices built into mainstream devices. So two years ago, he created the Fairphone, a phone that would be adequate in its functionality but exemplary in its supply chain.
https://vimeo.com/130781385
Since we last spoke to him, he seems to have succeeded. The Dutch company has sold 60,000 units and established a string of direct and traceable relationships with mineral suppliers around the world. Now it’s launching a wholly new version, one that considers not only the phone’s pre-life but its longevity and afterlife as well.
As you can imagine, building a phone from scratch isn’t easy, especially when you have ethical expectations. “We had a lot of people expecting us to kind of create world peace at the same time as making a phone,” Van Abel says. “I felt a little bipolar. Sometimes I felt like dying. At other times, I felt on top of the world.”
The new version is different in that Fairphone designed every aspect itself. The previous version was mostly licensed, with Fairphone concentrating on the supply chain relationships. Designing from start meant the company could look more deeply at how that design affects the supply chain. “With Fairphone One we had to reverse engineer the supply chain and we got stuck at a certain point. Now we can use certain materials and we can choose the partners we want to work with,” Van Abel says. On top of the fair-trade relationships it had for tin, tantalum, and copper, the company now has new ones for tungsten and gold.
At the same time, it has thought about how to make the phone last longer, so there’s less need for a constant stream of new materials. The new version is made to be durable (with a hard, integrated case) and repairable. The back comes off easily, revealing a transparent layer of components, each of which can easily be taken out and swapped for others. And the screen is a separate piece, so you can source a new one without buying a whole new model.
The Latest on: Fairly Mined Minerals
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Fairly Mined Minerals” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Fairly Mined Minerals
- Report: China’s taste for ‘blood timber’ may be fueling Mozambique conflicton May 17, 2024 at 8:09 am
A research group says an IS-linked militant group is benefiting from illegal sales of a luxury hardwood to China ...
- The world faces a shortage of minerals needed for the energy transitionon May 17, 2024 at 3:54 am
The world is facing a shortage of the minerals needed to make the electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels, and other clean energy technologies essential to ending its reliance on fossil fuels.
- Calls for responsible mining fail to stem rights abuses linked to transition mineralson May 16, 2024 at 9:45 am
As demand grows for transition minerals used in clean energy supply chains, new data suggests more protection is needed to stop abuses ...
- Eurobattery Minerals signs MoU for carbon-zero mining at the Hautalampi battery mineral projecton May 14, 2024 at 6:36 pm
EQS-Media / 15.05.2024 / 07:35 CET/CEST Stockholm, 15 May 2024 – The mining company Eurobattery Minerals AB (Nordic Growth Market: “BAT” and Börse Stuttgart: “EBM”; in short ...
- Millions invested into researching possible manganese mine in small Minnesota townon May 13, 2024 at 8:25 pm
Economists estimate the global manganese market is worth more than $20 billion and growing. The mineral, though, is 100% imported in the U.S., despite it being an element that could appear in rocks ...
- Environmental review begins for Hermosa critical minerals mine near Patagoniaon May 11, 2024 at 8:00 am
The Forest Service launches review of South32 Hermosa, a multibillion-dollar critical minerals mine southeast of Tucson.
- South Africa simply must get mineral exploration going again at paceon May 9, 2024 at 3:00 pm
South Africa’s Exploration Plan, released in 2022, set an ambitious target of raising South Africa’s share of global exploration dollars from below the 1% where it is now to 5% in as many years. Just ...
- On second try, House approves Amodei’s bill to ease mining on federal landson May 9, 2024 at 4:52 am
Nevada’s mining industry may soon get a reprieve after the Republican-controlled U.S. House passed industry-friendly legislation Wednesday, undoing a consequential court decision that restricted ...
- House passes bill allowing ancillary mining activities on public land without minerals presenton May 8, 2024 at 4:18 pm
Federal mining law allows companies to mine for valuable minerals, but in 2022, a U.S. appellate court ruled that companies are not guaranteed the right to use adjacent federal land without a mineral ...
- 460 MT illegally mined mineral seized at Yamunanagar screening planton May 7, 2024 at 11:39 pm
A team of the CM flying squad on Monday seized 460 MT of illegally mined mineral at a screening plant situated in the Ranjitpur area of the district. The team raided the screening plant after ...
via Bing News