Conflict minerals in tech goods and home appliances

‘Conflict minerals’ have been defined by policymakers under the umbrella term 3TG: Tantalum, Tin, Tungsten and Gold, all of which are used to build the components of laptops and mobile phones. In addition, several other ‘high impact’ minerals have come to the attention of environmental and human rights groups. Amongst these are lithium, nickel, cobalt and many others that are similarly linked to conflict and/or environmental destruction.

A large percentage of these minerals are sourced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Given its bountiful resources but weak governance, eastern DRC has seen low-scale conflict for decades.

Paramilitary groups, allegedly supported by neighbouring countries wanting a slice of the pie, fight for the control of small-scale mines. The conflict presents a host of long-term issues, but the bottom line is millions of deaths, unspeakable hostility and widespread civilian suffering. The elites benefit from resource extraction while the majority of the population remains dismally poor.

Conflict minerals’ effects on human rights

Electronics Watch’s 2023 report has again revealed significant workers’ rights and health and safety problems associated with working in mines.

“Armed with a simple crowbar to exploit a mineral vein, in extremely dangerous conditions… One to two million Congolese people depend on this production directly or indirectly”

Working in open-pit mines, they also denounced the absence of shelters against regular heavy rains, and they complained about hazardous work without protections. In one team of 10 miners, there are only four gas masks, so they wear nose plugs which provide scant protection against cobalt-laden dust.

Workers said that in the event of a death, the company does not compensate the family, and if they refuse to perform unsafe work they are dismissed.

An extensive literature review by Congolese and European researchers pointed out that women are often not allowed to work in mines and if they do, they earn less than half of what men are paid. And even for that they often have to sell their bodies first to ‘buy’ entry to the mines.

Conflict minerals’ effects on the environment

Apart from the humanitarian issues linked to mining, the environment suffers too. The chemicals used in washing coltan (tantalum ore) are polluting water bodies and are harmful to people and animals. The exploitation of the minerals is destroying ecosystems and affecting wildlife habitats. According to data available on the Global Forest Watch platform, the DRC has lost 8.6% of its tree cover since 2000, in part due to mining.

The opening of the forests also gives access to poachers. The population of eastern lowland gorillas for example plummeted from 8,000 in 1991, when coltan mining started [in Kahuzi Biega National Park], to about 40 in 2005.

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the North Eastern part of DRC is also in danger. It is home to one fifth of the entire okapi (forest giraffe) population of the world, the DRC’s largest population of forest elephants and chimpanzees, as well as 27,000 people who live and depend on the area that is also rich in gold. The reserve lost 3,336 acres of primary forest in 2022, up from 2,419 acres in 2021 and 2,086 acres in 2020.

How are conflict minerals currently addressed?

In the United States, the Dodd-Frank Act came into force in 2012. It requires all publicly listed companies to check their supply chains for any tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold that may be sourced from the DRC or surrounding countries. In the EU, new legislation came into force in 2021 that requires EU businesses to ensure that 3TG minerals are sourced responsibly.

Both regulating bodies require due diligence, third-party audits, consultations and annual reporting, and the intergovernmental OECD provides guidelines for companies to follow.

However, as the EU law did not come into force until 1 January 2021 – after the Brexit transition window closed – this did not become an EU retained law and currently, there is no legislation on conflict minerals in the UK.

Reducing the environmental impact of mining has not yet made it into legislation. However, a new “Handbook on Environmental Due Diligence in Mineral Supply Chains” was published in 2023 by OECD, the same organisation that aides companies through due diligence for workers rights issues. The handbook acknowledges the “rising demand for minerals critical to the energy and digital transition, such as cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel and rare earths among others” and gives guidelines for companies to understand how they can embed environmental considerations into their supply chain due diligence processes.

What are the effects of legislation on workers’ rights?

It has been widely disputed whether the legislation has had an effect on alleviating the conflict. Some dismiss its impact on reducing conflict as non-existent.

Others say that it had devastating effects on the lives of miners as unemployment rose when some companies pulled out of the conflict zone to avoid being associated with it.

But most commentators agree that legislation has had some benefits. According to the Enough Project, as of 2018, 78% of smelters/refiners have passed third-party audits. This created a two-tier market whereby the price for untraceable 3T conflict minerals is significantly lower than the price for verified conflict-free minerals, which has made the trade in minerals less lucrative for armed groups.

The International Peace Information Service found that, as of 2016, over three-quarters of 3T miners were working in mines where no armed group involvement had been reported. But 64% of gold miners still work at conflict mines.

Many think that enforcing official taxation is the most significant achievement of the implementation of the traceability chain. However, the collected tax rarely flows back to aid the mining communities and the economic and social impacts of these revenues remain unclear.

Ethical Consumer's rating for conflict minerals

Ethical Consumer expects all laptop, smartphone, solar panel, car and white goods manufacturers to have an adequate policy addressing conflict minerals whether or not they are bound to do so by law. We also require companies to commit to continue to source 3TG minerals from the DRC, to stop companies just leaving instead of bothering with due diligence, which could have serious effects on employment in the region.

We also expect them to outline in detail the due diligence steps they take to minimise workers’ rights abuses and environmental issues, rather than just referring to the OECD guidelines. We award extra marks for companies that address high impact minerals other than the 3TG minerals and if they use recycled minerals.

Emerging criticisms of the conflict minerals paradigm

We are aware of some emerging criticisms of US-led regulation efforts and the broader conflict minerals paradigm.

On one level, some criticisms scrutinise the regulatory efforts themselves. For example, a 2022 Global Witness investigation found that one of the major tin verification bodies, the International Tin Supply Chain Initiative (ITSCI), had permitted the laundering of conflict minerals. The report alleges that large amounts of minerals from unvalidated mines, including ones with militia involvement or that use child labour, are exported through ITSCI’s supply chain, abetted by widespread corruption and a systematic failure of incident reporting.

Others have argued that even when the system works as intended, and uncertified mines are excluded from supply chains, this only serves to harm the affected local communities. Excluding potentially problematic suppliers might appease worried investors and consumers, but it doesn’t improve artisanal miners’ living conditions or address the root causes of conflict. 

Maxie Muwonge, who was a programme manager for the International Organization for Migration when it was tasked with coordinating the validation process, later said this on the exclusion of non-validated mines: 

“You are destroying the livelihood of hundreds or thousands of people. This excludes entire communities. What are they meant to do? Do you think these people stopped working?"

A 2022 book by Christoph Vogel, Conflict Minerals Inc: War, Profit and White Saviourism in Eastern Congo, extends these criticisms further. Vogel argues that a single issue focus on conflict minerals ignores local complexities and only really serves the tech companies themselves. 

Minerals do play a role in Congo’s conflicts, but are only part of multidimensional, overlapping conflicts that are deeply bound in colonial legacies and struggles for land ownership. In Vogel’s view, the notion that western companies and US-led regulation can ‘save’ Congo quickly slips into white saviourism, and is informed more by colonialist tropes than by the realities of the conflict. It may be comforting to think that buying from one massive US tech firm rather than another could end our complicity in Congo’s ‘forever war’, but the reality is far more complex.

Our rating does expect companies to commit to continue sourcing from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), rather than exit the region entirely, but we do acknowledge that a single issue focus on conflict minerals ignores local complexities of the conflict, that are deeply bound to colonial legacies.

Are any companies taking genuine action on conflict minerals?

Fairphone continues to lead the way on responsible mineral sourcing, and goes far beyond the regulatory due diligence steps. Instead of turning away from potentially problematic areas, Fairphone focuses on engaging with and investing in artisanal miners, who are often viewed by large tech companies as high risk, due to the associations with conflict, child labour and dangerous working conditions, and often banned from international supply chains.

Fairphone correctly identifies that while this ban might give companies clean ESG sheets, it doesn’t actually help the situation. So instead, they work directly with partners on the ground to create transparent and traceable supply chains, improved working conditions, and better wages.

Fairphone also co-founded the Fair Cobalt Alliance, which brings major industry players together with the DRC government and civil society partners. It is the only company on our database to have received 100/100 under our Conflict Minerals rating.