Sustainable Electronics Article continued from page 41
It is based on tantalite ore, mined from a single approved source which can then be traced along a secure closed supply chain to the end customer’s electronic product. By reducing the processes in validating the closed pipe operation, the value of the raw tantalum can remain within the legitimate hands of the DRC to benefit local people - most of whom are extremely poor artisanal miners who work in desperately difficult conditions, to mine this precious mineral, to support their families.
Children and adults working in the mines. Photo credit: The Enough Project
example of companies adopting a closed pipe principle for delivering conflict-free tantalum from the DRC using OECD due diligence guidelines.
Great numbers suffered the unintentional effects of the de facto embargo within the non-conflict regions of Katanga in the DRC due to the Dodd-Frank Act in the US. These difficulties are being addressed and overcome and, for example, verified tantalum has been utilised by AVX’s general SMD tantalum capacitors since January 2013. As such companies have set the template, the huge manufacturers of mobiles and laptops, in particular, must make far more effort to source tantalum, ethically.
The role of design engineers, OEMs, suppliers, distributors and consumers Essentially, we all have a role to play, from the design engineers specifying non-conflict
tantalum components for prototyping to OEMs sourcing from trusted suppliers and distributors. We, as the consumer, must insist that our laptops, mobiles etc. are conflict-free zones. I took inspiration from Bill Gates speaking during his Dimply lecture in 2013 about the huge challenge that eradicating polio has been – in terms of logistics, with over 385,000 babies born each day. On the 19th October 2022, records indicate that remarkably only two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan – remain within the globe with cases of polio.
This incredible feat has taken decades of dedication, funding and commitment at an unprecedented level. Surely the electronics industry, with all its technical resources, can rise to have a conflict-free mineral environment – one where we can all sleep easy knowing that no child slave labour has been used for the mobiles lying on our bedside tables. To design engineers and electronics companies, I also ask for an increased vigilance with respect to supply chains and an ethos of design for durability, ease of repair and upgrades via software – rather than discarding hardware so we as customers can buy smarter.
Essentially, this is what the Right to Repair
Law is trying to achieve – diminishing e-waste and extending the life of electronic products, which fits in with Vivienne Westwood’s T-shirt: BUY LESS!
With the use of conflict-free minerals within our devices, we would also be buying ethically. A tiny label on each mobile phone or laptop which says CFM – conflict-free minerals – would be ideal.
Karen Mascarenhas wishes to thank The Enough Project and The Sentry for all the work they undertake and the sources cited. She acknowledges its remarkable founding director John Prendergast, an award-winning human rights and anti- corruption activist, and George Clooney, co-founder of The Sentry, an organisation concerned with the accountability for genocide and war crimes. Both founders are a constant inspiration to her. Mascarenhas PR Ltd wish to thank all referenced above as well as The Enough Project and AVX for the use of their images. For further information, please view the video from ENACT Africa at:
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=uRojf2XsmP0
See us at
Electronics Live Stand 41
42 December/January 2024
Components in Electronics
www.cieonline.co.uk
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