La indústria minera haurà de millorar les pràctiques de negoci

Fa una setmana vaig publicar l'article Gestionant l'RSE de proveïdors: Apple en el qual, a banda d'unes circumstàncies d'uns treballadors d'un proveïdor d'aquesta empresa, vaig parlar dels minerals que usen:

...no he sabut trobar informació respecte la utilització de coltan a l'iPhone 4. A l'informe hi diuen que han encarregat a una ONL que revisi els riscos respecte a tàntal i estany (el tàntal és un dels components del coltan)...

Justament avui he vist una notícia on s'explica que Apple i altres companyies usamericanes han formalitzat un compromís sobre la compra de minerals, a partir de la llei que entrarà en vigor als EUA i que obligarà els membres de la indústria minera a fer ràpidament canvis positius en les seves pràctiques de negoci:

Mon Apr 4, 2011

Apple, Intel Have Stopped Using Conflict Minerals

BY ARIEL SCHWARTZ

Next year, U.S. electronics companies will be required by law to disclose and trace their use of conflict minerals (gold, tungsten, tantalum, and tin deposits that fund war in Central Africa). Instead of waiting to be attacked by human rights groups, Apple and Intel, and other companies involved in the Conflict-Free Smelter program opted to avoid embarrassment and ditch the minerals altogether--and the decision is causing some problems.

Conflict minerals are more in-demand than ever, with the need for copper alone expected to rise 7% each year in China through 2014. The Congo also provides 5% of the world's tin and up to 14% of all tantalum, an element used in high-tech manufacturing. As part of the Conflict-Free Smelter program, mineral processors are required to prove via a third-party assessment that their minerals don't fund conflicts in the Congo.

Now miners in the region are scrambling to find new, less scrupulous Asian buyers, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, traders are quickly trying to start programs that will track mineral origins before the U.S. conflict mineral disclosure law--called the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act--goes into effect. It's a tight timeline--the law was just announced last July. Now it's forcing members of the mineral industry to quickly make positive changes to their business practices.

Font: http://www.fastcompany.com/1744173/apple-intel-stop-using-conflict-minerals

Read More: Microsoft Files Suit Against Nook E-Reader Makers Barnes & Noble, Foxconn Over Patent Infringement

Jornal.cat: Apple i Intel anuncien que no utilitzaran minerals que vinguin de zones en conflicte