Conflict minerals are referred to such minerals which are extracted from the conflict zones of ‘Congo.’ These minerals have often been found to be funding militias in the conflicted region and include tungsten, tin, gold and tantalum. However, Intel is now leading the tech industry in eliminating the use of conflict materials.
This has been reported by the Enough Project in a report titled ‘Taking Conflict Out of Consumer Gadgets: Company Rankings on Conflict Minerals 2012.’
The report praises Intel for doing far more than it was asked for to eliminate the use of conflict minerals from its manufacturing. According to an Enough Project analyst, “HP and Intel have gone above and beyond the call of duty on conflict minerals. It is now time to level the playing field for all companies, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has a key role to play in its upcoming vote on the rules for the conflict minerals law on August 22.”
Other companies which have taken an initiative in this regard include Apple, Motorola Solutions, Sony, Philips, Panasonic, RIM and AMD. In the course of preparing this report, the Enough Project made use of data straight from the companies. The companies, in turn, are required to present data regarding their conflict minerals sourcing under the Dodd-Frank act.
A rather unfortunate revelation by the report is that Nintendo, a giant in the gaming industry, hasn’t taken any concrete steps towards eliminating the use of conflict minerals, neither has it tackled the issue publicly.
Source: Enough Project
Courtesy: ZDNet
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