Every year, millions of mobile phones are discarded and replaced for new ones, creating a huge environmental impact. I have traveled throughout the supply chain of electronics and seen what impact it has on the people connected to the lifecycle of our mobile phones – starting in Congo where some of the necessary minerals are extracted, all the way up to countries struggling with the end-of-life of electronics, such as Ghana.
Meeting the people that are affected by the rapid evolution of technology makes you want to reconsider the way electronics are designed, produced, used and discarded. At the same time, I see consumers more and more losing the ability to modify, repair, and truly understand how they can keep their devices longer. This shows there is a growing market and need for companies of the 21st century to design electronics taking longevity in mind.
But besides encouraging users from a technological point of view, even more important is the psychological aspect: we should learn more about the (environmental) benefits of keeping our devices longer and be motivated to take back ownership. By opening up the supply chain of electronics, one can uncover and better understand the social and environmental issues and challenges ahead. And if we better understand things, we’re also able to actually change things.
Companies can do more to open up their supply chain, increase transparency to the public and provide insights in the footprint of their devices, using for example a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) or a recycleability study. Similarly, it would be powerful to see more companies performing a material scoping program to inform the public about the amount and wealth of precious minerals needed and used in their devices. Pushing transparency and publicity about these issues, also gives more room to celebrate achievements and value the small steps that are being taken in the right direction.
Above all, when it comes to the journey for fairer electronics, the end result will be bigger and better when we do it together. We need companies, customers, policymakers, campaigners and many other stakeholders to join hands and work together. Don’t forget that by holding a mobile phone, change is literally in your hands and there can’t be a difference without you!
Bibi Bleekemolen, Co-founder, Fairphone
By opening up the supply chain of electronics, one can uncover and better understand the social and environmental issues and challenges ahead. And if we better understand things, we’re also able to actually change things. [...] Pushing transparency and publicity about these issues, also gives more room to celebrate achievements and value the small steps that are being taken in the right direction.
