Boston, MA 02/13/2014 (wallstreetpr) – On Thursday, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) released the company’s latest Supplier Responsibility report that covers a broad range of human as well as environmental issues. The company noted that it will be coming down heavily on using “conflict minerals”. This report is its 8th publication and Apple has said that it has enforced its stringent Supplier Code of Conduct via 451 audits, education and training. The company’s suppliers have achieved an average compliance rate of 95% with a maximum 60 hour work-week. This is generally a dispute point with human rights groups that generally come down very heavily on labor practices in China.
Conflict Minerals
That particular number is a rise from the 92% that it was in the previous year. Apart from the standard improvements and maintenance, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) will also now be keeping a much closer eye on where their suppliers source minerals from. The company wants to stay away from “conflict minerals,” or the materials that are acquired from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The sales of these minerals are utilized as funding for fighting in the area. This new Apple initiative will be the extension of a report that covers environmental issues and workers’ rights relating to manufacture of various Apple products.
A responsible company
Apple SVP of Operations, Jeff Williams stated that January was the 1st time that they could verify that all tantalum that is used in the company’s devices in resistors and for capacitors have come from the non-conflict zones. The electronics industry accounts for more than 50% of the tantalum consumption in the world, it does not use tin, gold and tungsten in the same measure. What this means is that any action from Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) will not impact those smelters to a great degree. Instead, the company will use its brand-clout to highlight the suppliers’ smelters in its quarterly report.
