Is “ethical smartphone” an oxymoron?
March 28, 2016
Smartphones kind of suck.
Mining minerals and metals for the phone parts create and , and workers who assemble iPhones also . (Maybe you remember the by iPhone factory workers in China in 2010.) And when smartphones get tossed, of them end up in landfills every year, where carcinogenic ingredients like lead and mercury can leach into soil and water. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no getting around the hard truth: right now, there is no such thing as an 鈥榚thical smartphone,鈥欌�� for Salon in 2012.
Has anything changed in the past four years? Fairphone thinks so.
What is Fairphone?
In mid-2013, Dutch startup Fairphone for crowdfunding the first 鈥渆thical smartphone.鈥� The company promised technology without the guilt: A smartphone made with fair labor practices, environmentally conscious material sourcing, and conflict-free minerals (at least for Europeans鈥攖he Fairphone isn鈥檛 available yet in the U.S.).
Two and a half years later, Fairphone has sold 60,000 of its original model and 16,500 of the next model, Fairphone 2 (which ). Quartz鈥檚 Sarah Shearman , 鈥淔airphone鈥檚 success suggests that there are concerned customers prepared to vote for more ethical electronics with their wallets.鈥�
But 鈥渕ore ethical electronics鈥� is murky. Arguably, it鈥檇 be hard to make a less ethical smartphone than what鈥檚 available today. To determine how ethical Fairphone is and whether it鈥檚 a feasible alternative, we have to take a closer look at the company鈥檚 practices鈥攁nd the larger societal issues surrounding smartphones in general.
Mining
Sourcing materials for smartphones is a double whammy: Since more than 30 minerals go into them, production requires a lot of mining; plus, that mining is often tied to violence. Caroline Winter explains, 鈥淢inerals found in smartphones often come from conflict zones, most notably the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC], where many mines are controlled by warlords and armed groups that use the profits to bankroll the country鈥檚 brutal, ongoing battles.鈥�
In an attempt to avoid these conflict minerals, companies instead of the DRC as a less-controversial source for the tin used in smartphones (which solders components to the circuit board). Two tin suppliers to Foxconn, Apple鈥檚 top manufacturer, get all of their tin . But even there, safety precautions go unheeded in pits that are illegal and dangerous. Tin mining in Indonesia may be 鈥渃onflict-free,鈥� but it鈥檚 not necessarily safe or regulated.
And then there鈥檚 pollution. In Australia, mining aluminum for smartphone casing coal dust and sulfur dioxide, harmful to lungs. In Inner Mongolia, processing rare earth metals produces toxic waste and 鈥溾�� that causes cancer. And mining for copper in Chile for logic boards what environmental activists call 鈥渢he biggest toxic waste dump in Latin America.鈥�
So what is Fairphone doing differently? It鈥檚 a small start, but the company is using tin and tantalum in the Congo, and someone . Recycled copper is used for the . Fairphone is also trying to improve its sources of tungsten and gold, stating , 鈥淲e are working with partners to try to reopen the conflict-free tungsten trade in Rwanda to stimulate the local economy and establish a transparent tungsten supply chain鈥e are working to identify and integrate sources of fair trade and fair-mined gold into our supply chain.鈥� Four out of 30 minerals leaves much to be desired, but with sourcing and processing being so complex and opaque, at least it鈥檚 something.
Workers鈥� Rights
There鈥檚 a huge discrepancy between soaring smartphone profits and the tiny salaries and pitiful working conditions of those who actually build them. Sarah Shearman of Quartz injustices at smartphone assembly factories such as sweatshop conditions, poor pay, and no breaks during long shifts. Undercover reporters at an Apple factory outside Shanghai 16-hour shifts and tiny dorm rooms shared by 12 workers. Meanwhile, Apple made $18 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2015 alone鈥斺�渢he biggest quarterly profit ever made by a public company,鈥� the BBC .
Fairphone is trying to not only improve labor conditions but also give workers a voice. At Guohong, the Chinese factory it uses, the company a Worker Welfare Fund. Employee-elected representatives decide how to use the fund (higher salaries, better food, extra training, etc.) and liaise with management. Fairphone has donated $125,000 to the fund so far. The company also , 鈥淥ur production partner Hi-P has already made a number of concrete improvements, ranging from fire safety and protective equipment for employees to addressing systemic challenges such as working hours.鈥�
But there鈥檚 a lot more work to do. Fairphone Founder and CEO admitted, 鈥淐onflict-free is not child labor-free. We know for sure there is child labor in our supply chain. Why? Because we work in Congo. We choose to work in Congo because we think by contributing to the work in Congo and giving people jobs there, there鈥檚 a chance to do something about child labor.鈥� Overly optimistic sentiment? Time will tell.
Repair and Disposal
The tech industry, and particularly the smartphone industry, is based on at an ever-increasing clip. Companies do this with technological advances, incompatible updates, and the difficulty of repair.
Today鈥檚 smartphones are often very hard to open, with tough glue or solder cementing the battery in place. For instance, the HTC One Android smartphone, which came out in 2013, had a seamless, 鈥渮ero-gap鈥� design that makes it almost impossible to fix. 鈥淭his phone was not made with openability in mind,鈥� iFixit. The site rates smartphones on repairability, and several recent phones , including the HTC One M9, the Google Nexus 6P, and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. (iFixit the Fairphone 2 a perfect score in this category.)
Even if people repair their smartphones, most don鈥檛 dispose of them responsibly. It鈥檚 difficult to find recent figures, but estimates of smartphone recycling rates range from to as low as . Forrester research analyst Doug Washburn that鈥檚 because it鈥檚 much harder to recycle a smartphone than glass bottles or paper. Plus, Washburn says, smartphones are small, so it鈥檚 easy to stow them in a drawer and forget about them. At best, not recycling a smartphone prevents the reuse of precious minerals; at worst, the toxic components can seep into soil and water.
As previously mentioned, Fairphone excels here. The startup designed its modular phone with repairability in mind. Fairphone says you can 鈥渇ix a broken screen in under a minute鈥� and sells repair parts on its site. Repair instructions come with the Fairphone 2, and you to replace the battery or display. Fairphone also launched an e-waste recycling program so Europeans can ship their old Fairphones back for free when they鈥檙e done with them, and other brands of smartphones are recycled as well.
Overall, the Fairphone 2 is Europeans鈥� most ethical smartphone choice, aside from continuing to use their existing phone. (Ethical Consumer a 15 out of 20 on ethics, compared to the iPhone, which gets a lowly 6.5.) But there are other issues to consider.
Lingering problems
Whether you love Androids, iPhones, or something else, chances are, you get a new phone fairly often. Maybe that鈥檚 because it breaks鈥攁fter all, our society has shifted from a mindset of 鈥渞epair鈥� to 鈥渞eplace,鈥� particularly with electronics. Maybe it鈥檚 because manufacturers have trained us to upgrade our devices , if not sooner. Either way, rapid consumption is the norm. When the novelty of the Fairphone wears off, will people still keep it around?
If consumers can shift their thinking, buy a Fairphone, actually repair it, and keep it for several years, that would reduce demand and waste. After all, people in other countries keep their smartphones for four or five years, wireless analyst Tina Teng . Tech analyst Allen Nogee added, 鈥淚n developing countries, with voice-centric phones and low incomes, people keep phones a long time.鈥� But that鈥檚 probably more due to financial restrictions than ethical concerns. I don鈥檛 know if Americans can change our perception of using the same phone for years from 鈥渢echnologically resistant and out of touch鈥� to 鈥渃ool and ethical.鈥� As those $18 billion attest, the latest Apple product is a compelling status symbol.
Another problem is Fairphone鈥檚 inferiority to other smartphones in terms of price, weight and aesthetics. 鈥淭he Fairphone is an average mid-range smartphone, but it can鈥檛 really compete with the likes of the Moto G, which is less than half the price,鈥� Claudia Cahalane in a review for The Guardian. 鈥淭he ideal would be something that looks and works like an iPhone, but is made and sold by a company like Fairphone. And that鈥檚 unlikely in the near future.鈥� Rather than forcing ethically minded consumers to sacrifice something shiny and fun for something expensive and hefty, we need stricter and better-enforced regulations that hold all smartphone manufacturers to higher standards.
However, no matter how ethically it鈥檚 done, mining is still destructive. Friends of the Earth Europe that tin mining for smartphones 鈥渋s almost certainly linked to the devastation of forests, farmland, coral reefs, and communities in Indonesia.鈥� ( to make a smartphone will be ironic to anyone who鈥檚 played Farmville.) Ultimately, it鈥檚 hard to get around mining鈥檚 destruction, pollution and waste. Regulating it is a great first step, but ultimately, rare earth minerals aren鈥檛 a renewable resource. We need to figure out what else we can build smartphones out of and incorporate renewable energy if we want a truly sustainable solution.
So yes, as Fairphone鈥檚 leaders themselves point out, the most ethical smartphone is the one you already own. Better yet, use it to pressure smartphone manufacturers to improve their practices. To again quote , 鈥淚ronically, billions of people around the world are now in possession of the most powerful tools for facilitating grass-roots organization ever invented: ethically compromised smartphones!鈥� Put those tweets, emails, and Kickstarter dollars to good use, and maybe one day, we鈥檒l have a truly ethical smartphone.
March 28, 2016
Smartphones kind of suck.
Mining minerals and metals for the phone parts create and , and workers who assemble iPhones also . (Maybe you remember the by iPhone factory workers in China in 2010.) And when smartphones get tossed, of them end up in landfills every year, where carcinogenic ingredients like lead and mercury can leach into soil and water. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no getting around the hard truth: right now, there is no such thing as an 鈥榚thical smartphone,鈥欌�� for Salon in 2012.
Has anything changed in the past four years? Fairphone thinks so.
What is Fairphone?
In mid-2013, Dutch startup Fairphone for crowdfunding the first 鈥渆thical smartphone.鈥� The company promised technology without the guilt: A smartphone made with fair labor practices, environmentally conscious material sourcing, and conflict-free minerals (at least for Europeans鈥攖he Fairphone isn鈥檛 available yet in the U.S.).
Two and a half years later, Fairphone has sold 60,000 of its original model and 16,500 of the next model, Fairphone 2 (which ). Quartz鈥檚 Sarah Shearman , 鈥淔airphone鈥檚 success suggests that there are concerned customers prepared to vote for more ethical electronics with their wallets.鈥�
But 鈥渕ore ethical electronics鈥� is murky. Arguably, it鈥檇 be hard to make a less ethical smartphone than what鈥檚 available today. To determine how ethical Fairphone is and whether it鈥檚 a feasible alternative, we have to take a closer look at the company鈥檚 practices鈥攁nd the larger societal issues surrounding smartphones in general.
Mining
Sourcing materials for smartphones is a double whammy: Since more than 30 minerals go into them, production requires a lot of mining; plus, that mining is often tied to violence. Caroline Winter explains, 鈥淢inerals found in smartphones often come from conflict zones, most notably the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC], where many mines are controlled by warlords and armed groups that use the profits to bankroll the country鈥檚 brutal, ongoing battles.鈥�
In an attempt to avoid these conflict minerals, companies instead of the DRC as a less-controversial source for the tin used in smartphones (which solders components to the circuit board). Two tin suppliers to Foxconn, Apple鈥檚 top manufacturer, get all of their tin . But even there, safety precautions go unheeded in pits that are illegal and dangerous. Tin mining in Indonesia may be 鈥渃onflict-free,鈥� but it鈥檚 not necessarily safe or regulated.
And then there鈥檚 pollution. In Australia, mining aluminum for smartphone casing coal dust and sulfur dioxide, harmful to lungs. In Inner Mongolia, processing rare earth metals produces toxic waste and 鈥溾�� that causes cancer. And mining for copper in Chile for logic boards what environmental activists call 鈥渢he biggest toxic waste dump in Latin America.鈥�
So what is Fairphone doing differently? It鈥檚 a small start, but the company is using tin and tantalum in the Congo, and someone . Recycled copper is used for the . Fairphone is also trying to improve its sources of tungsten and gold, stating , 鈥淲e are working with partners to try to reopen the conflict-free tungsten trade in Rwanda to stimulate the local economy and establish a transparent tungsten supply chain鈥e are working to identify and integrate sources of fair trade and fair-mined gold into our supply chain.鈥� Four out of 30 minerals leaves much to be desired, but with sourcing and processing being so complex and opaque, at least it鈥檚 something.
Workers鈥� Rights
There鈥檚 a huge discrepancy between soaring smartphone profits and the tiny salaries and pitiful working conditions of those who actually build them. Sarah Shearman of Quartz injustices at smartphone assembly factories such as sweatshop conditions, poor pay, and no breaks during long shifts. Undercover reporters at an Apple factory outside Shanghai 16-hour shifts and tiny dorm rooms shared by 12 workers. Meanwhile, Apple made $18 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2015 alone鈥斺�渢he biggest quarterly profit ever made by a public company,鈥� the BBC .
Fairphone is trying to not only improve labor conditions but also give workers a voice. At Guohong, the Chinese factory it uses, the company a Worker Welfare Fund. Employee-elected representatives decide how to use the fund (higher salaries, better food, extra training, etc.) and liaise with management. Fairphone has donated $125,000 to the fund so far. The company also , 鈥淥ur production partner Hi-P has already made a number of concrete improvements, ranging from fire safety and protective equipment for employees to addressing systemic challenges such as working hours.鈥�
But there鈥檚 a lot more work to do. Fairphone Founder and CEO admitted, 鈥淐onflict-free is not child labor-free. We know for sure there is child labor in our supply chain. Why? Because we work in Congo. We choose to work in Congo because we think by contributing to the work in Congo and giving people jobs there, there鈥檚 a chance to do something about child labor.鈥� Overly optimistic sentiment? Time will tell.
Repair and Disposal
The tech industry, and particularly the smartphone industry, is based on at an ever-increasing clip. Companies do this with technological advances, incompatible updates, and the difficulty of repair.
Today鈥檚 smartphones are often very hard to open, with tough glue or solder cementing the battery in place. For instance, the HTC One Android smartphone, which came out in 2013, had a seamless, 鈥渮ero-gap鈥� design that makes it almost impossible to fix. 鈥淭his phone was not made with openability in mind,鈥� iFixit. The site rates smartphones on repairability, and several recent phones , including the HTC One M9, the Google Nexus 6P, and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. (iFixit the Fairphone 2 a perfect score in this category.)
Even if people repair their smartphones, most don鈥檛 dispose of them responsibly. It鈥檚 difficult to find recent figures, but estimates of smartphone recycling rates range from to as low as . Forrester research analyst Doug Washburn that鈥檚 because it鈥檚 much harder to recycle a smartphone than glass bottles or paper. Plus, Washburn says, smartphones are small, so it鈥檚 easy to stow them in a drawer and forget about them. At best, not recycling a smartphone prevents the reuse of precious minerals; at worst, the toxic components can seep into soil and water.
As previously mentioned, Fairphone excels here. The startup designed its modular phone with repairability in mind. Fairphone says you can 鈥渇ix a broken screen in under a minute鈥� and sells repair parts on its site. Repair instructions come with the Fairphone 2, and you to replace the battery or display. Fairphone also launched an e-waste recycling program so Europeans can ship their old Fairphones back for free when they鈥檙e done with them, and other brands of smartphones are recycled as well.
Overall, the Fairphone 2 is Europeans鈥� most ethical smartphone choice, aside from continuing to use their existing phone. (Ethical Consumer a 15 out of 20 on ethics, compared to the iPhone, which gets a lowly 6.5.) But there are other issues to consider.
Lingering problems
Whether you love Androids, iPhones, or something else, chances are, you get a new phone fairly often. Maybe that鈥檚 because it breaks鈥攁fter all, our society has shifted from a mindset of 鈥渞epair鈥� to 鈥渞eplace,鈥� particularly with electronics. Maybe it鈥檚 because manufacturers have trained us to upgrade our devices , if not sooner. Either way, rapid consumption is the norm. When the novelty of the Fairphone wears off, will people still keep it around?
If consumers can shift their thinking, buy a Fairphone, actually repair it, and keep it for several years, that would reduce demand and waste. After all, people in other countries keep their smartphones for four or five years, wireless analyst Tina Teng . Tech analyst Allen Nogee added, 鈥淚n developing countries, with voice-centric phones and low incomes, people keep phones a long time.鈥� But that鈥檚 probably more due to financial restrictions than ethical concerns. I don鈥檛 know if Americans can change our perception of using the same phone for years from 鈥渢echnologically resistant and out of touch鈥� to 鈥渃ool and ethical.鈥� As those $18 billion attest, the latest Apple product is a compelling status symbol.
Another problem is Fairphone鈥檚 inferiority to other smartphones in terms of price, weight and aesthetics. 鈥淭he Fairphone is an average mid-range smartphone, but it can鈥檛 really compete with the likes of the Moto G, which is less than half the price,鈥� Claudia Cahalane in a review for The Guardian. 鈥淭he ideal would be something that looks and works like an iPhone, but is made and sold by a company like Fairphone. And that鈥檚 unlikely in the near future.鈥� Rather than forcing ethically minded consumers to sacrifice something shiny and fun for something expensive and hefty, we need stricter and better-enforced regulations that hold all smartphone manufacturers to higher standards.
However, no matter how ethically it鈥檚 done, mining is still destructive. Friends of the Earth Europe that tin mining for smartphones 鈥渋s almost certainly linked to the devastation of forests, farmland, coral reefs, and communities in Indonesia.鈥� ( to make a smartphone will be ironic to anyone who鈥檚 played Farmville.) Ultimately, it鈥檚 hard to get around mining鈥檚 destruction, pollution and waste. Regulating it is a great first step, but ultimately, rare earth minerals aren鈥檛 a renewable resource. We need to figure out what else we can build smartphones out of and incorporate renewable energy if we want a truly sustainable solution.
So yes, as Fairphone鈥檚 leaders themselves point out, the most ethical smartphone is the one you already own. Better yet, use it to pressure smartphone manufacturers to improve their practices. To again quote , 鈥淚ronically, billions of people around the world are now in possession of the most powerful tools for facilitating grass-roots organization ever invented: ethically compromised smartphones!鈥� Put those tweets, emails, and Kickstarter dollars to good use, and maybe one day, we鈥檒l have a truly ethical smartphone.