Poor ethics, shiny handsets
Amidst arms trade connections, sourcing from oppressive regimes and poor conditions for factory workers, mobile phone companies claim to be going greener. Hanna Backman investigates.
Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson are the leading mobile phone companies not only in financial terms, but also in developing policies addressing ethical issues. Most of their manufacturing facilities are, however, based in China, which by the end of the decade is expected to host around 75 percent of the global handset production. With free trades unions effectively prohibited in China, policies addressing workers' rights there are only of limited value. It is therefore no surprise to find that reports by campaigners reveal an industry where labourers work up to 72 hours a week with compulsory overtime, insecure employment contracts and on wages below subsistence level.(4)
Workers' rights abuse
Among the most serious violations of workers' health and safety uncovered in
a 2006 report by Dutch campaigners SOMO, were those found at a factory producing
lenses for Motorola phones. In 2006, nine of the worst affected workers wrote
to Motorola, resulting in the company initiating an audit of the factory. While
commended for beginning to engage with its supplier to improve conditions, Motorola
was criticised by SOMO for not making structural changes in its policy that
could have had an effect on the whole supply chain.
A FinnWatch report published in 2005 showed that Nokia had not effectively
monitored compliance with its own supply chain policy, and that employees were
not given the opportunity to participate in its implementation.(5)
Coltan from Africa
In 2003, we noted how campaigners were beginning to target mobile phone companies
over their use of coltan (an essential mineral used to manufacture components)
from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The high price of coltan was fuelling
a civil war, drawing in significant child labour, and threatening the habitats
of endangered species (especially the gorilla).
Since then, the civil war has ended, the price has fallen somewhat and Australia
has grown to become the world�s largest producer of coltan. Nevertheless violent
conflicts still break out sporadically in the DRC and 75% of its 60 million
people live on an average of one dollar a day.(8)
In the current situation it is still appropriate that responsible companies
have stated policies of avoiding DRC-mined coltan. We contacted all the companies
for this report and discovered that only Motorola, Samsung, Apple and Nokia
have such a policy on their websites. However, until proper tracing systems
are in place, such policies are not guarantees that no DRC-mined coltan has
been used. Until a time when such guarantees are in place, all mobile phone
manufacturers receive negative marks in the Habitats and Resources and the Human
Rights categories in our rating system, on the assumption that some DRC-mined
coltan will be present in their systems.
Going green
The Greenpeace Guides to Greener Electronics are designed to push companies
to eliminate hazardous substances and improve their recycling procedures. Motorola
is the only company in the Greenpeace report without a timeline for phasing
out PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs).(9) The following five companies
in this report are currently ranked by Greenpeace as follows:
8 Nokia
7.7 Sony Ericsson
6.7 Samsung
6.7 Motorola
5.3 Apple
Health issues
After hundreds of studies around the world, the evidence relating to exposure
to electromagnetic fields remains inconclusive, although the balance of evidence
suggests that mobile phones are safe to use.(7) Research shows that users in
European countries, except Greece, believe the benefits of using mobile phones
outweigh the claimed health effects.(1) However, according to the Guardian,
"more research is needed and, as a precaution, children should not be needlessly
exposed to phones".(8)
Further reading
www.somo.nl
www.finnwatch.fi
www.eiris.org
www.greenpeace.org/electronics
Do one thing
Recycle your old handset. The EU WEEE directive requires UK companies to take
back and recycle all handsets after January 2007. In addition, many charities
collect handsets that can be sold on and then reused. Oxfam makes a minimum
of £5 per collected handset.(1)
References
1 Mintel Telecoms Retailing report 05/07
2 www.nokia.com viewed
in 09/07
3 Hoovers 09/07
4 “The High Cost of Calling”
report by SOMO, 11/06,
5 “Day and Night at the Factory” report
by FinnWatch, 03/05,
6 “Mobile phone health concerns in the telecom
industry” report by Eiris, 05/05
7 “Is it OK ... to use a mobile
phone?“, The Guardian, 07/06,
8 http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/congo/2007/0410precious.htm
viewed 11/11/07
9 www.greenpeace.org/electronics viewed in 10/07
10
www.oxfam.org.uk viewed in 10/07
11 www.htc.com, quarterly financial
report for 2007, viewed in 11/07
12 www.greenpeace.org/electronics viewed
in 10/07
13 www.goresgroup.com viewed in 11/07
14 www.motorola.com/governmentandenterprise
viewed in 10/07
15 ww.greenpeace.org/electronics viewed in 10/07
16
www.burmacampaign.org.uk viewed in 10/07