How do we do this in the real world?

Our approach builds on standards and audits for our material sources, but goes beyond a traditional checking-the-box approach: We actively engage, collaborate and invest in improving the most critical topics with our suppliers, mines and recycled material sources.

Health and safety for workers and communities

Mining, especially-small scale mining, can be very dangerous and detrimental to the health of workers and surrounding communities. We invest in safer mining and recycling practices, encouraging the use of personal protective equipment for workers. We also work hard to ensure children are not used for labor in the mines and get to go back to school instead. Similarly, we help the youth in these areas to explore different career paths that are not as hazardous.

Living incomes and value for communities

The miners and recyclers producing our materials should receive fair compensation for their hard work. Decent incomes and living wages are key to ensuring that local communities actually benefit from mining and recycling. This will also help prevent child labor.

Worker and community voice

We believe it is important that all stakeholders have an equal voice, and that we listen to the voices of those affected most in our supply chains: the miners, workers and communities. We encourage partnerships, especially multi-stakeholder approaches, where companies, civil society and government come together. 

Nature

Mining can have profound impacts on nature through pollution of water, air and soil, GHG emissions, land use, and forest destruction. We aim to tackle this by working together with others to foster less damaging mining practices, and to regenerate nature.

Material chains-of-custody

To link fairer material sources with our products, we use different chain of custody models: segregated chains, mass balance models, and mineral credit systems.. Which model we apply depends on how the material is used in our products, how the supply chain is structured, and how we can create the most positive change for miners, recyclers and communities. 

Supporting the most vulnerable

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) provides livelihoods for millions of people across the world. But often, ASM is done under extremely hazardous conditions, by miners and communities that are often the most marginalized. Fairphone focuses on building fair ASM supply chains and proactively sources from ASM producers to make a difference.

Fairphone also focuses on improving working conditions of e-waste collectors and small-scale recyclers. In many countries where e-waste is dumped, millions of people earn their livelihood from picking, collecting, sorting and disassembling e-waste for recycling, often in informal settings. Often, this is done under hazardous conditions detrimental to their health and the environment. That’s where Fairphone steps in, actively working to change the situation for the better.