Did you know that your mobile phone contains a number of conflict
minerals, whose mining is used to fund violent conflicts in Africa? This could
be one more reason to motivate you to take your old mobile, or any other
electronic device, to your nearest recycling point.
Conflict minerals are called this because their mining, which
typically involves human rights abuse and child labour, are used to finance
bloody conflicts; the biggest instance of which is the Democratic Republic of
the Congo. The US Dodd-Frank Act lists among conflict minerals: wolframite
(tungsten ore), columbite-tantalite (tantalum ore), gold, and cassiterite (tin
ore). These are all used in electronic devices: gold is used to coat the
internal wires of the device, tantalum is used in the batteries to ensure they
hold their charge after they are disconnected from the socket, and tin is what
circuit boards are mostly made of. Tungsten is used for the vibration function
of mobile phones.
In the Congo, these are mined illegally by local militia groups, and
the proceeds from their black market sale go towards funding the ongoing civil
war. The other countries where conflict minerals are mined include South Sudan,
Uganda, Rwanda, Angola, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and the Central African
Republic. In all of them, mining of the metals is used to fuel regional
conflicts.
Since recycling technology is advanced enough to make a significant
portion of electronic device contents reusable, it is one of the ways that we
can contribute to reducing the mining of conflict minerals. The US has
legislated against the use of conflict minerals in the Dodd-Frank Act, and the
UK has put in place guidelines for companies trading in conflict minerals.
There is a global move to put a stop to the criminal use of these minerals, and
recycling is a significant part of it.
For more information on mobile phone recycling please visit the FoneHub website
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