Our obsession with smartphones continues to carry a heavy toll on both people
and planet. Back in 2016, a Greenpeace
survey
found strong consumer demand for more ethical and sustainable smartphones that
are made to last, don’t contain hazardous chemicals, and are easily repairable
or recyclable. Five years on, it’s fair to say that limited progress has been
made on this front.
There continues to be a lack of supply chain transparency when it comes to the
use of conflict minerals in these devices; and slow phase-out of toxic chemicals
such as PVC, phthalates and brominated flame retardants used in production
processes. While some manufacturers have made great strides in recent years to
address these issues, overall industry progress remains somewhat mixed.
Add to this frequent upgrade
cycles
during the use phase (users keep their phones for an average of two to three
years before buying a new one), poor recycling
rates
and a lack of built-in repairability in many models, and it’s easy to see why
the smartphone system remains a broken one. And while the growth of refurbished
electronics
is an encouraging trend, more needs to be done to make durable, repairable
phones more accessible — and appealing — to the average user.
Since its inception in 2013, Fairphone has been
at the forefront of challenging the industry to take a more responsible
approach.
Its latest launch — the Fairphone 4 5G, launched yesterday — is designed to
compete with the best smartphone technology out there while offering a highly
sustainable option for users.
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It comes with a five-year warranty, which the company says goes beyond industry
standards, and an ‘electronic-waste-neutral’ handset. This means that for every
Fairphone 4 sold, the company pledges to recycle one phone or an equal amount of
small electronic waste. Alternatively, Fairphone says it will take back and
refurbish at least one other phone to prevent the production of a new one. The
company has relaunched its recycling and reuse programme to ensure it can
achieve this, and will source devices from European take-back schemes or from
countries without formal recycling infrastructure.
Speaking at the launch, CEO Eva Gouwens said that business models which
encourage users to regularly upgrade their
devices
need to change, given the pressures these models are placing on resources, not
to mention their carbon and e-waste footprint.
“We believe that these rapid lifecycles are the main reason for many of the
malpractices we see in this industry. That is the area that needs most
improvement,” she said. “Keeping the device in use for longer, I really see that
as a key area — if we are able to achieve that, I believe other aspects of the
industry will become more sustainable, as well.”
Gouwens admitted that there wasn’t currently a solid business case behind
thoroughly recycling smartphones. “There is a big opportunity there,” she
emphasized, but pointed out that it was only part of the solution and that more
responsible mining practices needed to scale. “We need virgin mining for certain
materials. We can’t just look away and say ‘no, we use recycled’ — we need to
improve the conditions there, as well.”
According to Monique Lempers, Fairphone’s impact innovation director,
electronics manufacturers need to start taking an impact-based, not risk-based,
approach to fair
mining.
“We source and invest in those mines where we can generate the most impact and
drive opportunities for change,” she said.
In its supply chain, Fairphone has expanded its list of responsibly sourced
materials, adding a further six to focus on 14 in total. It has a target to
source 70 percent of these 14 materials responsibly by 2023. Materials include
Lithium, Neodymium, Tin, Colbalt, Gold, Tungsten, Zinc, Silver, Copper and
plastic. Around 56 percent of the company’s original eight focus materials were
fairly sourced in 2020, up from 32 percent in 2019.
The latest Fairphone 4 includes Fairtrade-certified
gold;
aluminum from Aluminum Stewardship Initiative Performance
Standard-certified vendors; and fair
tungsten
from Rwanda; as well as recycled tin, rare earth minerals and plastics. It
also features a back cover made of 100 percent post-consumer recycled
polycarbonate, which the company says is an industry first.
Asked when Fairphone might be able to produce a ‘climate-neutral’ smartphone,
Lempers said that lifecycle assessment studies of the Fairphone 4 were currently
being undertaken and that the company would be in a position to report on this
later in the year.
“Overall, it’s good to say that one of our key impact areas is driving a longer
lifetime of the phone. We think the carbon footprint is largest in our
production phase; we know that from our LCAs of former devices,” she said.
“Therefore, we’ve set ourselves even higher ambitions to increase the lifetime
of the Fairphone 4; and to monitor the actual use, but also the predictive use,
of the Fairphone 4 in the years to come.”
There are still challenges to overcome in recycling smartphones, even with
modular models such as Fairphone’s that are easier to disassemble. The company’s
2020 impact
report
highlights the finding of its own recyclability studies, which found that only
30 percent of the materials used in the earlier Fairphone 2 model could be
recovered, even if the most optimal recycling routes are applied. However, this
improves to over 50 percent in the Fairphone 3. Lempers says that a
recyclability study has yet to be carried out for the Fairphone 4.
Ultimately, recycling alone will not be able to meet future demand for all the
materials that go into smartphones, which is why Fairphone advocates a more
holistic approach focusing on four impact areas — longevity, circularity,
sourcing fair materials and putting people first. While the company actively
encourages others to adopt its methods and collaborate, it will doubtless be
consumer demand for more ethical electronics that drives the biggest change.
Asked if people are beginning to prioritize ethics over aesthetics and
performance when it comes to buying a smartphone, Fairphone’s communications
manager, Ioiana Pires Luncheon, told Sustainable Brands™: “I think it’s
slowly making inroads in electronics. If you look at the fashion
industry,
it’s really ahead when it comes to sustainability — with many brands now trying
to do better in that area.
“I think it’s taken time for that to happen; I don’t think consumers really want
to compromise when it comes to performance. A big part of launching the
Fairphone 4 was to create a device for people who don’t want to compromise. It’s
about providing the market with a premium, sustainable smartphone option.”
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Maxine Perella is an environmental journalist working in the field of corporate sustainability, circular economy and resource risk.
Published Oct 1, 2021 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 4pm BST / 5pm CEST