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2019
Don’t Co There:
CORRUPT COBALT SOURCING FROM CONGO, BATTERIES,
AND SUPPLY CHAINS
PHILIP KIM
DECEMBER 12, 2019
FRESHMAN SEMINAR: TECHNO-ETHICS
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1
Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2
Labor Conditions .................................................................................................................. 5
Child Labor ........................................................................................................................... 8
Apple .................................................................................................................................. 10
Allegations and Responses ........................................................................................................... 11
Apple’s Methods .......................................................................................................................... 11
Tesla ................................................................................................................................... 14
Allegations and Responses ........................................................................................................... 16
Tesla’s Methods ........................................................................................................................... 16
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 19
Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 21
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Much of today’s electronic devices require cobalt, a chemical element within most rechargeable
batteries. The demand for cobalt has been increasing over the past decade because of the rise of
electronics devices and vehicles. However, cobalt is often sourced from the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, a country known for widespread abuse in its mining sector. Artisanal miners are
constantly left to work under life-threatening labor conditions and the use of child labor is
prevalent even today. The demand for cobalt continues to increase as companies in the
electronics sector continue expanding their products. Leaders of the electronics sector like Apple
and Tesla have begun implementing policies and supporting third-party organizations to help
stop the unethical sourcing of cobalt, but Tesla has been shown struggle in being explicit with its
policies. Apple has made significant progress and its documents imply that it will continue
having global success in its efforts. Nonetheless, there has not been enough impact globally and
other companies must soon partake in transforming their cobalt supply chains.
Introduction
Electronic devices have become a quintessential part of our lives–from smartphones to
personal computers, many of us find ourselves constantly immersed in our digital screens. Yet
we, as demanding consumers, fail to recognize that behind our seemingly innocent screens lay a
harsh reality of life-threatening labor conditions.
Modern technological devices often have batteries that utilize lithium-ion technology,
which has increased in popularity for a multitude of reasons: (1) they have high energy density,
meaning that they can operate for longer periods between charges; (2) they have low self-
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discharge rates, which gives them longer battery life than other rechargeable batteries; (3) they
are low maintenance, so they do not require constant check-ups to preserve steady performance.
The issue of lithium-ion technology is that its main active mineral is cobalt, a chemical
element found in the Earth’s crust. The main source of cobalt is the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, which accounts for “nearly 60 percent of global cobalt production”.
1
However, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo is infamous for its problems with governance, which has
inevitably birthed widespread abuse in its mining industry. Impoverished miners are often forced
to work without proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), leading to high levels of breathing
problems and birth defects. Nearly 40,000 of these miners are children that are more likely than
not malnourished while working between 12 to 24 hours per day.
The overlying focus of this paper will be on how the rise of electronics companies
influenced unethical labor conditions in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
and how these electronics companies have been making efforts to combat the unethical sourcing
of cobalt. In this paper, I propose to look at the cobalt supply chains of the companies Apple Inc.
and Tesla, Inc. and their respective approaches to solve these prevailing issues.
Apple is guilty of utilizing lithium-ion technology in its batteries for nearly all of its
products, from iPhones to the recent AirPods. Despite this, Apple has kept its position as one of
the key leaders of the electronics industry for over a decade, mainly reputable for its outstanding
quality and innovative products. Furthermore, Apple is essentially responsible for spearheading
the global smartphone market and is likely to continue having a significant impact on the future
of smartphones. This makes Apple a prime figure to analyze due to its widely known brand and
its role in shaping the electronics industry.
1
Siddharth Kara, “Is Your Phone Tainted by the Misery of 35,000 Children in Congo’s Mines?” The Guardian,
October 12, 2018, 2.
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Tesla is likewise guilty of incorporating lithium-ion technology in the batteries of its
electric vehicles, such as the newest Tesla Model 3. However, this is not to diminish the
accomplishments of Tesla. Tesla is greatly responsible for initiating the electric car race, even
influencing the most established carmakers across the world–auto companies like Porsche and
Mercedes-Benz–to begin overhauling their factories and partake in the continuously growing
race for the finest electric cars. This makes Tesla another prime figure to analyze due to its
significant impact on the electric vehicle industry and the likelihood that Tesla will continue
growing in the future.
This is not to claim that only Apple and Tesla are guilty of partaking in unethical cobalt
sourcing. Essentially all electronic companies–other key figures being leading firms like
Samsung, Ford, and LG–utilize lithium-ion technology. This paper will primarily focus on Apple
and Tesla because both are highly accomplished companies in their respective fields and are also
widely known to the common person.
I hypothesize that companies of the electronics industry–focusing on Apple and Tesla–
have had a significant impact on creating unethical labor conditions in cobalt mining in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Companies have often look towards the Democratic
Republic of the Congo for their cobalt needs due to its abundance of the chemical element.
Furthermore, cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is often significantly cheaper
due to how it is unethically mined and produced.
Despite this, some companies of the electronics industry have begun implementing
policies against child labor and human rights abuses. For example, Apple has started publicly
mapping its cobalt supply chain to ensure that the cobalt it receives is being mined responsibly
under ethical conditions. Tesla has become actively involved in third-party support
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organizations, such as the Silicon Valley Conflict Minerals Forum, to educate its suppliers on
conflict minerals and their ethical implications. Both companies have also implemented third-
party audit measures to ensure that their direct suppliers are complying with both domestic and
foreign laws.
Labor Conditions
This section of the paper will be focusing on the unethical labor conditions that miners of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo often face.
The problem of exploitative labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains
extremely prevalent even today. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been a landlocked
country trapped in poverty since 1960, and its economy heavily relies on the “exploitation of
mineral resources”.
2
This is because the land of the Democratic Republic of the Congo possesses an “immense
diversity of minerals, including cobalt, copper, petroleum, and uranium”.
3
The focus on minerals,
however, has recently shifted towards the sale of conflict minerals–the most common ones being
“gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten”.
4
Cobalt, although not considered as a conflict mineral by
certain parties, has also seen a recent increase in demand due to the rise of lithium-ion
technology.
2
Marie Mazalto, “Governance, human rights and mining in the democratic republic of Congo,” Mining in Africa
(2009): 195, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt183p4c4.13.
3
George Coakley, “The Mineral Industry of Congo (Kinshasa),” (2016): 5,
http://minerals.er.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2003/cgmyb03.pdf.
4
Elise Mann, “Digital Technology is Dependent on Forced Labor: The Exploitative Labor Practices of Cobalt
Extraction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” The Applied Anthropologist 3, no. 1 (2017): 1,
https://www.du.edu/korbel/crric/media/documents/ccric-africa-papers/elise_mann.pdf.
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Furthermore, the fall of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s state mining company,
the Gecamines, is further responsible for a recent increase in artisanal mining. Artisanal mining
refers to “impoverished workers who mine without the use of drills or draglines”
5
Instead,
artisanal miners often work without appropriate PPE and instead continue to use outdated tools,
such as “mallets, chisels and head torches”.
6
Artisanal mining has become increasingly common
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo because this mining practice produces cobalt ore that is
significantly cheaper and contains is higher concentrated than the cobalt produced in actual
industrialized mines. As a result, some cobalt smelters have shifted focus away from
industrialized mining companies towards sourcing their cobalt from artisanal miners.
This problem is further heightened as violations of human rights and horrendous working
conditions are rather common in artisanal mining practices. Industrial workers in artisanal mines
are “subjected to forced labor, including debt bondage, other miners, family members,
7
