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Treasure: providing work (conditions are better than home) 

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Treasure: providing work (conditions are better than home) 

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Trouble: (providing conditions are better than home, but not as much)

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Treasures: There are examples  of companies demonstrating best practices of understanding and addressing the entire life cycle of materials from cradle to cradle (I. E. Artex electronics in Ontario) 

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Treasures: There are examples  of companies demonstrating best practices of understanding and addressing the entire life cycle of materials from cradle to cradle (I. E. Artex electronics in Ontario) 

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Treasure: consumers can be more responsible with their phones and have them last longer.
Trouble:. Parts are not made to be recyclable by manufacturers.

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Apple is ahead of the other companies in terms of chemical waste. Samsung is the worst

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Greenpeace: Where does all the e-waste go?

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Greenpeace: Where does all the e-waste go?

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Feature story - February 20, 2008

The amount of old electronics or e-waste such as computers, phones and TV's being discarded every year is growing rapidly. In many countries it's the fastest growing type of waste as cheap prices mean replacing electronics is cheaper than fixing them, while low price often means low quality and a very short life spans.

As electronics increasingly become part of the throw away culture in many developed countries, amounts of e-waste have dramatically increased while solutions have often lagged far behind. Even in the European Union (EU) that has tighter regulation 75 percent of e-waste is unaccounted for. Of the estimated 8.7 million tonnes of e-waste created annually in the EU a massive 6.6 million tonnes of e-waste is not recycled.

In the US there is very little regulation of e-waste. Less than 20 percent of US e-waste is recovered for recycling. Worrying the recycling percentages for PCs (10 percent) and TVs (14 percent) are even lower. The imminent switch to digital TVs in the US and elsewhere will lead to a massive increase in the amount of redundant analogue TV's.

Even from the 20 percent of e-waste collected in the US much is exported because the US is one of the few countries where it's still legal to export collected e-waste to Asia and Africa.

E-waste dumped in China, with a label clearly indicating it was collected for recycling in California.

The huge amount of e-waste not recycled can be accounted for by:

- Storage: Often old electronics are stored in people's houses. This only serves to delay the day they are finally discarded and reduces the chances they could be effectively reused.

- Landfill/Incineration: When mixed with domestic waste electronics will most likely end up in a landfill or incinerated. Both methods allow toxic chemicals to pollute the environment.

- Reuse and Export: Old computers and phones are often exported to developing countries for reuse or recycling. The vast majority are crudely recycled in e-waste scrap yards causing widespread pollution.
Digital Divide
Countries like India and China have long been a destination for e-waste dumping by unscrupulous traders looking to make a quick profit on e-waste from the US and Europe. Now the amounts of domestic e-waste generated by these countries is growing fast. In India only one percent of e-waste is collected for authorised recycling.

Across Asia and Africa informal recycling yards have sprung up where low paid migrant workers use primitive methods to extract valuable metals. This informal recycling creates massive environmental pollution and damages the health of workers and residents in the area.

Even well intentioned shipments of computers for reuse are being abused. In Ghana many traders report that to get a shipping container with a few working computers they must accept broken junk like old screens in the same container from exporters in developed countries. The broken junk and eventually even the working computers inevitably ends up dumped in Ghana where there is no infrastructure to safely recycle toxic e-waste.
Solutions
One clear solution is for the major electronics companies to eliminate the worst toxic chemicals from their products and improve their recycling programs. Having generated demand for the latest new mobile phone or sleek laptop and made vast profits from sales of electronics it should not be a problem the companies are allowed to ignore.

Mobiles at a recycling plant. Only a fraction of old mobiles are recycled.

In 2006 more than one billion mobile phones were shipped worldwide. However, Nokia (the market leader) recycles just 2 percent of the phones it sells.

The major computer makers do little better, with currently an average recycling rate of just 9 percent. That means the major companies don't recycle over 90 percent of their old products.

To address the rising tide of e-waste all manufactures must offer free and convenient recycling of their products to all their customers. Where companies are unwilling to do this tough legislation is need to ensure electronics are safely recycled. Japan has effective recycling legislation and Sony reports that it collects 53 percent of it's old products in Japan. That's five times better than the global average for major PC makers and shows that solutions are already available.
Philips singled out for bad behaviour
While most companies accept responsibility for recycling their own products, and are improving their recycling programs for consumers, several TV companies are dragging their feet on recycling with the majority offering no recycling for old TVs in many countries. Of the TV companies, Philips stands out by publicly stating that recycling is the responsibility for the customer and government and consumers should pay for recycling, not the product makers. Behind the scenes Philips lobbies to avert legislation to make companies more responsible for recycling their own products.

Basically Philips is helping ensure the status quo remains, that has lead to such a large e-waste problem. We have delivered this report direct to Phillips and other companies to show how they need to stop hiding from the problem of e-waste.
E-waste: The good, the bad and the ugly
Since August 2006 we have been ranking the major electronics companies' efforts phase out toxic chemicals and improve recycling programs - both vital steps to tackle e-waste.

Many companies have made big strides to improve their products and recycling schemes since the introduction of the Guide. But no company has so far succeeded in offering an entire range of products free of the worst toxic chemicals or a comprehensive, free, global takeback scheme to ensure responsible recycling.

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Do you know what happens when you throw out your old electronic gadgets? Probably not, but considering they contain both toxic chemicals and valuable metals you'd think someone would know? Unfortunately our new report 'Toxic Tech: Not in Our Backyard' reveals the fate of millions of tonnes of e-waste generated each year is largely unknown.

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This guy is going to tell you how it is...

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This guy is going to tell you how it is...

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Cell Phone Facts : Effects of Cell Phones on the Environment

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The effects of cell phones on the environment are generally negative due to the plastic, batteries and lead contained inside of the phone. Recycle cell phones at an electronics recycling center with advice from a cell phone salesman in this free video on cellular phones.

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Kansas City Article on Smartphone Recycling

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Kansas City Article on Smartphone Recycling

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A staggering number of new smartphones keep popping up on the market - somewhere between 60 and 70 models every year. And because almost every new cellphone is replacing one that's no longer wanted, a sprawling cellphone recycling and buyback industry has been created in recent years.

The recyclers can help environmentally-friendly consumers upgrade to Amazon's recently announced Fire Phone, for instance, without feeling guilty. And they can help offset the cost of that newer phone. Marci Verbrugge-Rhind, a spokeswoman for the Sprint Corp., said a used phone can earn up to $300 in store credit.

But despite the benefits to recycling phones, the expanding industry still has a long way to grow. Just under 12 percent of cellphones are collected for recycling, says the most recent Environmental Protection Agency report on the topic, and Americans instead send 152 million old phones to landfills each year.

The stream of old phones won't let up any time soon, either. The average cellphone shelf life had shrunk to 21 months in 2010, according to a Recon Analytics report. And that figure probably shortened further as wireless carriers, led by T-Mobile, shifted from strict two-year contracts to terms that encourage more frequent upgrades.

Trading in

What happens when a phone is traded in?

"The short answer," Verbrugge-Rhind said, "is it goes back into other customers' hands" -from savvy Americans getting discounts on almost-new iPhones to emerging-nation workers getting their first phones.

Most carriers and electronic stores - and hundreds of websites - offer incentives to keep phones from being thrown away or shoved into the back of a desk drawer. Those phones then go through a process that wipes all of their data and are sold back into the market, used for parts or melted down to pure commodities. So, many traded-in and donated phones wind up back where they started.

The cycle usually begins in phone carrier locations or electronics stores. Sprint Corp., which prides itself on its various environmental efforts, was the first carrier to launch a program back in 2001. The company says it re-collects 47 percent of the cellphones it sells and in 13 years has kept 59 million phones out of landfills.

Verizon Wireless said it was recycling 31 percent of its devices by the end of last year. AT&T does not disclose its recycling rate but said it recycled 487,000 pounds of electronic waste last year.

Electronics retailers such as Best Buy also have buyback programs. Emily Nelson, an assistant store manager at Best Buy's Overland Park location, said her location alone recycled 10 to 20 phones every day.

Nelson said the majority of traded-in phones are only 18-26 months old and tend to still be in good shape. Smart phones such as the iPhone 4, iPhone 4s and generations of Samsung Galaxy phones are frequently ditched - because the people who bought them in the first place are the sort who like to have the latest and upgrade often.

Both stores offer store credit for the trade-ins. The credit earned at Best Buy can be used on anything in the store, but usually goes toward a newer phone. The same goes for Sprint.

"Especially in this culture, everybody wants the latest and greatest," Verbrugge-Rhind said.

Back into service

No matter where a phone is recycled, the data on it is cleared. Most places will wipe the data from a phone in front of a customer, effectively erasing all of your photos, contacts, texts and data. Then it heads to a facility, where it's reconfirmed that the device is completely clean.

Then phones have to be evaluated. Some are fit to be refurbished, and others are so far gone they have to be recycled. If there isn't any way to put life back into a phone, it's sent off to be responsibly recycled.

To ensure that recyclers, refurbishers and processers are handing cellphones responsibly, consumers can check if a company is E-Stewards certified. The certification goes only to companies that do not use prison labor, child labor or sweatshops. They also cannot dump hazardous e-waste in landfills or ship it to developing countries.

One company that focuses on recycling is Electronic Recyclers International Co., headquartered in Fresno, Calif. Started in 2002, the company recycled 10,000 pounds of electronic waste in its first month, CEO John Sherigan said. They expect to recycle 25 million this month.

Unusable electronics can be broken down into pure commodities - such as copper, silver and gold - or they can be used for parts. Nelson said the vast majority of phones Best Buy collects are farmed for parts. Sometimes they go to fix phones that are under Best Buy's Geek Squad Protection, a service that repairs electronics. Other times, they're resold in secondary markets.

Ninety percent of the phones Sprint buys back are eventually refurbished and resold, the company says. The 10 percent that can't be refurbished have been melted down to become jewelery, battery packs, car parts, plumbing faucets and even part of the bronze lion statue outside of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Phones that are capable of a new life are sent to refurbishing factories - Electronic Recyclers also covers that operation.

"The phones really aren't in bad shape, but we all want the next generation," Shegerian said. "So there's a ton of buyers that buy that or buy this from secondary or tertiary (sales and services) markets and they're reused. Not everybody can afford new. None of that stuff is going to a landfill anymore."

One phone recycler, eRecyclingCorps of Irving, Texas, has an office in Overland Park that works with U.S. phone companies and retailers to set up recycling programs. Mary Bristow, vice president of marketing and communications, said the company sends most of the phones it collects to insurance and warranty programs, wholesale distributors and cellular resellers, where they can be sold at a discounted price.

Many markets outside the U.S. aren't subsidized, Bristow said. To keep consumer costs down, carriers offset the real cost of cellphones with contracts. Without subsidies, the upfront cost of a smartphone can reach up to $800.

"We make an affordable, high quality phone available to someone who would otherwise not be able to afford one," Bristow said.

Brightstar Corp. started in Miami and was built on redistributing those dumped phones. Patrick Burns, the vice president of buyback and trade-in at Brightstar, said the latest numbers say 40 percent of refurbished devices stay stateside, but he personally thinks that estimate is a little high.

When there isn't a demand for a certain model of a phone domestically, Brightstar will use its global locations to reach customers. They distribute to 51 countries around the world, including areas in the Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa, China and Japan regions.

So that's the long answer. When you trade in an old phone, it can end up as a fully refurbished phone in someone else's hands, or as several tiny parts in dozens of other people's refurbished phones. Or a faucet. And it could be anywhere in the world.

For every million cell phones recycled, the EPA estimates, 35 thousand pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered.

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Cellphone recycling saves money, curbs environmental damage, but it's still underused

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A staggering number of new smartphones keep popping up on the market - somewhere between 60 and 70 models every year. And because almost every new cellphone is replacing one that's no longer wanted, a sprawling cellphone recycling and buyback industry has been created in recent years.

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Best Buy's Electronics Recycling Program

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Best Buy's Electronics Recycling Program

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our electronics recycling program at best buy canada

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Our Electronics Recycling Program - Best Buy Canada

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Our Electronics Recycling Program at Best Buy Canada

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David Suzuki Foundation : How to Recycle a Cell Phone

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David Suzuki Foundation : How to Recycle a Cell Phone

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Here's an easy website to remember, www.recyclemycell.ca. You can find a drop-off location in your area.

Worldwide, there are about eight million cellphone users. The truth is that about 96 per cent of the materials in mobile devices are recyclable. But the reality is that only 12 per cent of used mobile devices are being recycled in Canada.

Where are the rest? Probably sitting in a drawer at home - you know the one - or maybe thrown out. Recycle My Cell accepts cellphones, smartphones, wireless PDAs and pagers. The brand or condition of the device doesn't matter, and the service is free. They also accept rechargeable batteries, chargers and other accessories.

London Drugs has also committed to Bring Back the Pack program. Their in-store recycling program accepts packaging but also cellphones, batteries, disposable cameras and small appliances (purchased at London Drugs). Recycling fees might apply to items not purchased from the store. Find out more about the Green Deal.

And before you purchase a new mobile device, check out Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics. It ranks the top 18 manufacturers of mobile phones, computers, TVs and games consoles according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change. To date, Nokia and Sony Ericsson are leading the pack with Microsoft, Nintendo and Toshiba picking up the rear.

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Here's an easy website to remember, www.recyclemycell.ca. You can find a drop-off location in your area. Worldwide, there are about eight million cellphone users. The truth is that about 96 per cent of the materials in mobile devices are recyclable. But the reality is that only 12 per cent of used mobile devices are being recycled in Canada.

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There are several reasons why recycling your mobile device makes sense. By mailing or dropping off your mobile device at a recycling drop-off location, you are doing something positive for your local ecosystem by diverting waste from your local landfills. Recycling your wireless device also decreases the amount of raw materials that would otherwise be needed for manufacturing new products.

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GoRecell: Recycle Sell Old Used Cell Phones

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GoRecell: Recycle Sell Old Used Cell Phones

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GoRecell: Recycle Sell Old, Used Cell Phones for Cash Canada

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Recycle my used phone into Money - GoRecell buys old devices in any Condition! Send us your phone using our prepaid shipping label Now and get Paid.

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By Mark Kinver
Science and nature reporter, BBC News

Out with the old... One billion new mobiles are set to be sold in 2007

Mobile phones may be one of our smaller electronic possessions, but the environmental issues surrounding them are proving to be a sizeable challenge.

The sheer number of the devices sold around the globe is startling. David McQueen, principal analyst for handsets at Informa Telecoms and Media, says that an estimated 940-980 million phones will be sold this year.

"Next year, if growth in the market continues at about the current rate, there will be more than a billion brand new handsets sold around the world - it is a massive market," he observes.

"If you take these figures over the years since the late 80s, when phones first came on the market, there has got to be at least five billion handsets in existence."

Global challenge

Dylan Gwynn Jones, of University of Wales, Aberystwyth, oversaw some preliminary research into the environmental impacts from mobile phones.

"The findings were that the ecological footprint of creating a mobile phone may be small, but the cumulative effect is quite significant on a global scale," he told BBC News.

As with all electronic equipment, mobile phones contain a range of substances that are harmful if the devices are not disposed of properly.
Heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium are present within mobile phones, especially older models, as well as brominated flame retardants in the devices' printed circuit boards and casings.

These substances have been linked to cancers and other disorders in humans, and can have a devastating impact if they are released into the environment.

Mobiles, especially older models, can contain potentially harmful substances, including:

1 & 2. Cover and key pad - chromium, PVC, brominated flame retardants

3. LCD screen - liquid crystals

4. Circuit board - lead, brominated flame retardants (PBB, PBDE), mercury

5. Battery - cadmium, nickel, lithium

Problems begin if the handsets end up in landfill sites or if they are dumped illegally because this could lead to toxic substances seeping into the soil and groundwater.

The UN Environment Programme (Unep) estimates that up to 50 million tonnes of waste from discarded electronic goods is generated annually, with the majority being shipped from the West to developing nations.

Traditionally, much of the waste found its way to Asian countries such as China and India, but tighter regulations means more and more is ending up in Africa where there are few facilities to safely deal with it.

The issue was the main focus of a recent conference on the UN Basel Convention, designed to regulate international trade in toxic waste.

Walking the talk

Although mobile phones only make up a small percentage of the e-waste mountain, manufacturers are aware of the need to address the issue.

Leading makers, including Motorola, LG, Sony Ericsson and Philips, have all implemented eco-design aspects into their production lines, including reducing the amount of hazardous substances used in their products.

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, produces a handset every nine seconds. It has decided to implement requirements set out in the EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive in all 10 of its factories around the globe.

The first mobile phone weighed almost a kilogramme, like a brick, and you could talk for about 15 minutes

The RoHS Directive bans six substances (lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PDBE) from products that are either made or sold in the EU.
"We have models that sell well in China or Brazil that still meet the most stringent criteria set up in the EU," says Markus Terho, Nokia's environmental affairs director.

"It gives us flexibility; if there is a product that sells well in Brazil and we think that it would sell well in Europe, we can start selling it in Europe.

"We also felt that when we saw the pieces of regulation from the EU it was quite clear that some of the other major markets would follow, so it was easier for us to implement it globally," he told BBC News.

Waste not, want not

Another EU law that is being rolled out across the 25-nation bloc is the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive.

It requires producers to bear the cost of the collection, recovery and disposal of the so-called "e-waste" arising from their products. The aim is to make manufacturers design devices with fewer impacts on the environment.

NEC says it has developed the first handset that uses plant-derived bioplastics. The Japanese electronics firm says the phone's manufacturing process also emits 50% less carbon dioxide (CO2) than conventional approaches because of a shift away from fossil fuel-based power generation.

The technological evolution of the mobile handset since it first emerged on the market has led to a reduction in both materials and energy consumption, says Markus Terho.

"The first mobile phone weighed almost a kilogram, like a brick, and you could talk for about 15 minutes," he recalls.

"Now, we have devices that are under 100g and you can talk for eight or nine hours, while standby time is weeks," he adds.

While the energy performance of phones has increased dramatically, the sheer number of phones has led to another problem - chargers being left plugged in sockets when not in use.

Nokia chargers are still drawing about 0.1-0.5 watts when a phone is not connected, Mr Terho says.

Although, individually, this appears to be a drop in the ocean, he admits that when there are millions of chargers being left plugged in the wall each day, it does become a big issue.

"From next year, when fully charged, the phones will no longer just say it is charged, it will say 'please unplug the charger'," he reveals.

All-in-one

Mr Terho says that early Nokia phones consumed tens of watts of power to make a call, whereas today's devices are using about one watt, allowing mobiles to be more than just phones.

"If the energy efficiency of the device is much higher, then you can do so much more than just talk. You can send e-mail, send texts, listen to music, take pictures and so forth."

Mobiles have become essential for 21st Century lifestyles

The preliminary research carried out by the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, seemed to confirm that there was an appetite for an ever increasing number of phone-based gadgets.

The study, commissioned by the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), found that about 90% of the people questioned said that they did or would use a camera on a mobile, and 60% would use its MP3 player.

However, the rush to get new technology on to shops' shelves does have an impact. In 2001, some gains made in energy efficiency were lost.

"The reason for this is that it was the first year we were introducing 3G (third generation) phones," explains Mr Terho. "The first 3G models were not as efficient as the previous GSM ones."

But, he added, the new technology had merged numerous functions into one phone, meaning that less energy and raw materials were consumed by manufacturers.

"Convergence is a good thing from an environmental point of view because you do not need to buy a separate camera or music player; you can have it all in one device."

But analyst David McQueen suggests that these developments are used by manufacturers to keep people wanting brand new phones, adding to the e-waste cycle.

"That is what the vendors want; they want to create this market to stimulate demand for new handsets through developments in design, features and functionality," he told BBC News.

"I don't think there is any other consumer electronic device that is generally replaced every 12 months."

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BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Do mobile phones cost the Earth?

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By Mark Kinver Science and nature reporter, BBC News Out with the old... One billion new mobiles are set to be sold in 2007 Mobile phones may be one of our smaller electronic possessions, but the environmental issues surrounding them are proving to be a sizeable challenge.

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ARP : Mobile Phone Waste and The Environment

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https://thetechportal.com/2017/06/26/smartphone-sustainability-requires-high-mileage-devices/

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/a3ddjz/the-environmental-case-for-the-iphone

http://business.scoop.co.nz/2017/06/27/apple-samsung-products-among-least-repairable/

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Apple's Sustainability Initiatives: VICE News Tonight on HBO

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Three years ago, Apple announced that it was going to make all of its facilities run entirely on renewable energy. In an exclusive, Apple told VICE News Tonight that it's 96 percent of the way toward that goal. And now it's setting an another industry-changing objective: making all of its products from recycled or renewable resources.

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(2014 - Greenpeace Report on the sustainability of each electronics giant; Apple scores well)

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(2012 - socio-economic impacts from Apple`s manufacturing plants in China)

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ZHENGZHAO, Henan province, China -- If you want to understand why iPhones are made in this corner of the world, look no further than Li Yue.

When I met the effervescent 21-year-old, she was lined up at a kiosk outside the gates of the massive assembly plant owned by Foxconn. Li, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jean shorts and carrying a pink parasol to beat the heat on a scorcher of a June day, was among a group of a dozen or so candidates applying for a job with the Taiwanese firm. Not a specific job, mind you. Any job.

It's not as if Li, who just finished her first year as a student at Henan Police College, didn't have much going for her. She was bright and engaging. She spoke more than passing English. And she conveyed an eagerness to get started.

Foxconn granted her wish. But instead of landing a job at the plant here, which employs more than 190,000 workers, Li boarded a bus that afternoon for Taiyuan, in the Shanxi Province, a 10-hour ride away. It may have been more than she bargained for.

Late Sunday night, the Taiyuan factory, with more than 79,000 workers, was roiled by violence. Foxconn said "a personal dispute between several employees escalated into an incident involving some 2,000 workers," leading Foxconn to suspend operations at the plant for a day. While Chinese authorities are investigating the cause of the riot, Foxconn said that it "appears not to have been work-related." Apple declined to comment on the riot.

The weekend violence is the latest in a growing list of incidents that have heightened concerns over conditions in factories that make iPhones and other high-volume tech products. There have been employee suicides, explosions at two plants that make Apple gadgets, and reports of harsh working conditions. A New York Times investigation of the manufacturing of Apple products in China in January painted a picture of a company that wants to improve the workplace at its partners such as Foxconn but "falters when it conflicts with crucial supplier relationships or the fast delivery of new products."

There are other, less obvious issues adding to tensions in these teeming facilities. Wages may be high compared with other jobs in China, but they are sometimes barely enough to cover rent in the huge dormitories in which employees typically live, and still leave workers with money to send to family members in villages who live on even less. Managers can subject employees to harsh public ridicule that would be unthinkable in Western workplaces. And employees are often reluctant to make waves simply because there are so many other people who would happily trade places with them.

"The employees always say the people outside want a job," one employee told me in an interview, "and the people inside want to quit."

When a major new product such as the iPhone 5 is heading to stores, even more stress is put on that fast-growing manufacturing chain. Apple sold 5 million iPhones over the weekend (up from 4 million for the first weekend of sales for the iPhone 4S), and could sell 10 times that amount by the end of the quarter that closes December 31. Meeting that demand has required an epic buildup of materials, infrastructure, and labor, all while satisfying Wall Street's need for bigger, more historic profits.

Li, who is from Huaiyang, about 120 miles southeast of Zhengzhou, knew all about the suicides at Foxconn. And she had read articles online about the working conditions at the company's plants. But she still lined up for the interview, during which recruiters asked the most basic questions and look for scars and tattoos, according to Li. And she had no qualms about paying the 150 renmimbi, or $24, for a bus ticket to Taiyuan, even for a job that pays 1,550 renminbi a month, about $244. ( Foxconn raised wages in Zhengzhou on August 1 to 1,800 renminbi, about $283.)

"It's very hard to get a job at Foxconn," Li said, with her pink purse and a grocery bag full of food in her hand. "They pay more than other companies."

Workers like Li are in such abundance that they've become a resource in much the same manner as aluminum or plastic. They move among cities such as Taiyuan, Zhengzhou, Shenzhen, and others where iPhones are made as needs arise. And as soon as they leave their jobs, they're replaced by other workers, just as eager as Li to get started. That's particularly true as Foxconn opens new factories in inland cities, where opportunities are scarce.

Putting size in perspective
Scale matters when you're trying to satisfy global consumer demand. Foxconn, which makes products for Apple and plenty of other tech giants, including Dell and Hewlett-Packard, is huge, employing 1.1 million people in China. But then, China is massive, with more than 1.3 billion residents.

Consider Zhengzhou. Everywhere you look in the part of the city where Foxconn has set up shop, construction cranes loom. Excavators move dusty, dry earth, while skeletons of long factory buildings and 12-story dormitories form a changing skyline. Chinese media report Foxconn plans to employ 300,000 workers here within a few years, but it's still all Foxconn and Apple can do to keep up with demand.

As absolutely gargantuan as Foxconn's facility is here, Zhengzhou can handle it. The city has 8.6 million residents. Henan province, of which Zhengzhou is the capital, has a population of 94 million. That's the same number of residents as California. And Texas. And New York. And Pennsylvania. Combined. If it were a country, Henan would have the 12th largest population in the world, in an area roughly the size of Wisconsin.

I came to this city because I wanted to explain how an iPhone comes to life and the consequences of meeting prodigious global demand. Beyond the exposes about conditions in the factories that make iPhones, we've also seen troubling reports of pollution caused by the mining for its raw materials and its ultimate disposal.

I contacted Apple during my reporting for this project. The company provided a statement last night.

"Apple is committed to the highest standards of social responsibility across our worldwide supply chain," the company said. "We insist that all of our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever our products are made."

True, virtually any major consumer electronics product carries similar labor and environmental issues. The life cycle of an iPhone isn't all that different than that of a Samsung or an HTC phone, and nearly every modern mobile phone is made by Asian contract firms, where worker rights aren't protected by federal and state laws as they are in the United States. Still, the iPhone is iconic. Its introduction in 2007 upended an entire industry and led the shift from desktop to mobile computing. But there's a downside, as the riot in Taiyuan reminds us.

Apple is not ignoring the issue. The company has hired a group to audit workplace conditions, the Fair Labor Association or FLA, as a result of the issues raised in recent months. Last month, the group reported that Foxconn addressed several workplace concerns, such as enforcing ergonomic breaks, changing the design of workers' equipment to guard against repetitive stress injuries, and updating maintenance policies to ensure equipment is working properly.

"In addition to this ambitious project with the FLA, we've been making steady progress in reducing excessive work hours throughout our supply chain," the company said in its statement. "We track working hours weekly for over 700,000 workers and currently have 97 percent compliance with the 60-hour maximum workweek specified in our code of conduct."

And in response to the wave of press coverage about and activist condemnation of the conditions at those plants, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook took offense at any suggestion that the company is indifferent to the workers in its supply chain.

"Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern," Cook wrote to employees in January, according to an internal e-mail obtained by 9to5mac. "Any suggestion that we don't care is patently false and offensive to us."

Both Foxconn and Pegatron, another contract manufacturer that assembles iPhones in China, declined my request to visit their facilities. But Foxconn, in a statement to CNET made prior to the riot that occurred over the weekend, acknowledged problems and said it is working to improve conditions.

"Foxconn is not perfect, but we have made tremendous progress," the company said, pointing to the hiring of mental health professionals and an expansion of extracurricular activities for employees. "It is also clear that our efforts to enhance employee welfare and support are meeting with success and they are saving lives and they are serving as a model for other companies with large employee populations who face similar challenges."

Critics dispute that Foxconn has done much of anything to improve working conditions. A report released the day before the iPhone 5 debuted, from Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior or SACOM, a Hong Kong watchdog group, painted an entirely different picture. SACOM interviewed 60 workers in Zhengzhou, detailing continuing problems at the Foxconn plant.

Meet the Chinese activist trying to improve conditions for Foxconn employees.

"When the peak season comes, they are tied to the production lines with just one day off in 13 working days, or no rest day at all in a month, all to cope with the public demand for the new Apple products," the report says. "It is sad to say that to some extent, workers also yearn for the peak season because their base pay is insufficient to meet their basic needs, especially for those who have to support their dependents."

SACOM found that employees worked excessive overtime, beyond Chinese legal limits. The report said that some workers weren't compensated for their overtime. It cited "inadequate training and protection" for employees using chemicals in the production process. And the group even found that some workers need to acquire an "off-duty permit" for a toilet break.

Exploring Zhengzhou
To find my own answers, I poked around Foxconn's Zhengzhou operation. There, I hired a three-wheeled, engine-powered cart, something that might be called a "tuk-tuk" in other parts of Asia, though here it seemed to be known as motorized tricycle. The driver suggested we simply walk through the Foxconn gates, past the security guards. No one stopped us.

I didn't try to walk into buildings, where I'm certain I would have been stopped. But the grounds themselves are clean, if a bit dusty. Orange trash bins with Foxconn's logo dot the campus. From the outside, the buildings are modern, if a bit ordinary. Rows of motorcycles are lined up outside in what must be employee parking, and the sidewalks on this side of the gates are almost entirely empty as workers assemble gadgets inside.

There's plenty more action on the other side of the factory. That's where most of the dormitories are. From the outside, the dorms look like apartment buildings you'd find in an American city. They are nondescript brick structures, often 12 stories high, row after row of them. Laundry occasionally hangs from balconies. Guards prevent visitors from entering.

There, it's a lively street scene outside, as residents socialize, while occasionally picking up a snack or shoes from the kiosks that line the roads. It's a bit dingy. Litter is strewn on the streets and plastic bags tumble with the breeze.

A 26-year-old woman sits down with me at a food court on the ground floor of one of the dormitories. She only gives her family name, Ma, for fear of retribution from her employer, Foxconn, for talking with a journalist without permission. It's a concern of nearly every Foxconn employee with whom I chat. Her glasses frame a round, cherubic face. She's wearing a light shirt with a floral pattern, having changed from the Foxconn polo shirt workers wear on the job.

Ma works in the service department, logging the defects of iPhones pulled from the assembly line into a computer. She's been on the job three months, moving from Shangqiu, a city of 7.4 million that's 140 miles east of here. Like plenty of Foxconn employees, she took the job because the money was better than any work she could find at home.

But the job comes at a price. She left her 1-year-old daughter back in Shangqiu with her mother and hasn't seen her since she left home.

"I miss her very much," Ma said.

As for her husband, he's working somewhere in southern China, though she's not really sure where. The two of them haven't talked since she left home.

The work itself, Ma said, isn't really all that bad. Mundane, yes. But not overwhelming. She puts in eight-hour days, five days a week, and tries to get as much overtime as possible. That's because the pay barely covers her needs.

She earns the 1,550 renminbi, or $244, a month that was common for Foxconn entry-level workers here before the August 1 raise. But after she pays rent for a bunk bed in a dormitory room that she shares with seven other Foxconn workers and purchasing food that she often buys at Foxconn's canteen, there's generally no money left to send back to her home. And she's terribly worried about rumors that property management company that runs the dorms in which she and 85 percent of the Zhengzhou workforce live is going to increase its rent.

For her, the answer is overtime. Ma tries to add as much overtime as she can to supplement her salary. After media reports surfaced about Foxconn allowing overtime in excess of Chinese law, which limits overtime to 36 hours a month, her boss has limited her opportunities to work longer shifts.

"Most of the employees would rather have overtime," Ma said. "They complain that they can't work more hours."

The idea of receiving higher pay hasn't dawned on her. When I point out that Apple, which had $117 billion in cash on June 30, more than the gross domestic product of Bangladesh, might be able to afford paying Foxconn more so its workers could earn a larger paycheck, Ma just shrugged.

"Of course, everyone would like to make more money, but there is no way to ask for that," Ma said. "Foxconn can always get more people to work for them."

She's referring to people like Li Yue, the new Foxconn recruit I met who hopped on the bus to Taiyuan.

(Story continues below)

(Credit: Mark Hobbs/CNET)

After listening to workers here, as well as at Foxconn's Shenzhen plant and Pegatron's Shanghai facility, a complex picture of working conditions emerged. That's not all that surprising given the hundreds of thousands of people who assemble iPhones. Nearly every worker with whom I chatted had a complaint. Many of the beefs were mundane, such as the tedium of doing repetitive tasks on Shenzhen production line or having a roommate in the Pegatron dormitory who evidently has particularly malodorous feet.

Others have more serious concerns.

"I am required by the factory to do overtime," says a 26-year-old man whose family name is Zhang outside the gates at Pegatron's Shanghai factory. He said his manager will fine him if he doesn't report for his assigned overtime. Pegatron declined to comment on Zhang's statement.

A 21-year-old worker at one of the two Foxconn plants in Shenzhen, whose family name is Liang, said managers there are often abusive. Liang, who puts parts on iPhone motherboards, got in hot water with his boss for a mistake a few months earlier. As a result, his boss told him to write up a note about the mistake that was then posted on a bulletin board.

Foxconn noted that there is a formal grievance procedure for workers to raise concerns. But most workers with whom I spoke were unaware of the procedure or felt it yielded no results. The company also noted that workers could complain through its union. But the union is a toothless organization, whose leaders are appointed largely by management.

Liang noted an even greater indignity.

"Managers will yell at you if you make the tiniest mistake and they will not assign overtime to you," Liang said.

While impressions of working for Foxconn vary, one feeling is constant. Every worker I chatted with frets over their paltry paychecks.

You might think the complaint sounds familiar. After all, many of us in the West aren't happy with our pay either. But for Ma and her colleagues, the pay, while better than that for most other non-skilled jobs in China, rarely covers their most basic needs. This isn't about disposable income to see a movie or pick up a cute pair of shoes.

These workers want enough cash to pay for food and rent and send a bit home for relatives who have even less money. It's fair to say that for most of them, the only time they'll hold a iPhone 5 is when they're putting one together.

From rocks to recycling: The life of an iPhone
Day 2: We look at the environmental concerns raised bymining for the raw materials of the iPhone and what happens to iPhones when people get rid of them.

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Riots, suicides, and other issues in Foxconn's iPhone factories

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ZHENGZHAO, Henan province, China -- If you want to understand why iPhones are made in this corner of the world, look no further than Li Yue. When I met the effervescent 21-year-old, she was lined up at a kiosk outside the gates of the massive assembly plant owned by Foxconn.

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(2012 - TED Talk on the conditions of Chinese factory workers)

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In her reporting and writing, Leslie T. Chang explores the lives of workers in China, focusing on the experience of women.

Why you should listen

Leslie T. Chang's book Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China traces the lives of Chunming and Min, two young women working in Dongguan, a factory city in South China. Leaving their home villages far behind in pursuit of work, Chunming and Min are part of an estimated 10 million young migrants (estimated to be 70 percent women) who work in China's booming factories. These migrants live in a "perpetual present," forging individual and nontraditional lives amid the breakneck pace of manufacturing.

As Chang gets to know these two women and others, she reveals the harsh realities of China's spectacular industrial growth, and also explores her family's own history of migration from mainland China.

Chang lived in China for a decade as a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. She is now based in Egypt.

What others say

"I must have read fifty books about China this year, but this stands out as one of the best." - Cory Doctorow

Leslie T. Chang's TED talk

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You have JavaScript disabled In her reporting and writing, Leslie T. Chang explores the lives of workers in China, focusing on the experience of women. Leslie T. Chang's book Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China traces the lives of Chunming and Min, two young women working in Dongguan, a factory city in South China.

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(2014 - Apple cleaning up hazardous chemicals in the supply chain)

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China is often referred to as the world's factory; manufacturing more than half of all the computers and mobile phones produced worldwide. Living in China and working for Greenpeace, I have seen first-hand the destructive impacts this industry can have on our fragile environment. I also know that any steps taken by major global brands, like Apple, can potentially have a huge impact on suppliers in my home country.

On Tuesday, Apple announced a new commitment to tackle hazardous chemicals in its manufacturing supply chain. This included a ban on two dangerous chemical substances - benzene and n-hexane - often used in cleaning agents. This news comes after months of public pressure, including a petition from China Labor Watch and Green America who called on Apple to address concerns about worker safety in its product supply chain.

For the first time, Apple also made public its Regulated Substances Specification (RSS) - a list of restricted substances for suppliers - representing an important step towards increasing the company's transparency and accountability. While Apple might not be the first company to release a list like this, it is one of the largest to do so, and this move will hopefully set an example for others to follow. Such a list encourages companies to speed-up reducing and eliminating hazardous substances, especially in Global South countries, like China, where regulations tend not to be as stringent as in Europe or North America.

While Apple and other companies are making progress down the road towards removing hazardous substances from our mobile phones, laptops and other electronics products, tens of thousands of chemicals are still being used in manufacturing them. Many of these substances are just as a harmful to human health and the environment.

In 2009, Greenpeace China released a report investigating electronics manufacturing facilities on the Pearl River delta. 'Poisoning the Pearl' revealed that three facilities making printed circuit boards were found to be discharging a number of organic pollutants into the Pearl River, including brominated flame-retardants.

Greenpeace is not alone in its calls to change the industry. Besides China Labour Watch and Green America, since 2008, a coalition of 40 Chinese NGOs, including IPE (the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs) launched the Green Choice Alliance (GCA). This project aims to curb environmental pollution in China's manufacturing hubs by trying to make supply chain management systems transparent.

Apple's latest commitments show that companies listen when people demand change. It also shows they can and should be responsible for investigating their own supply chains and reveal the results to their customers. Transparency is the first step on the pathway to ridding our phones, computers, tablets and the electronic devices of hazardous substances for good. Global companies have a responsibility to protect our health and our environment, both inside and outside the factory fence line.
Yixiu Wu is the head of the Toxics Campaign at Greenpeace East Asia.

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Apple takes first steps to Detox its manufacturing supply chain

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China is often referred to as the world's factory; manufacturing more than half of all the computers and mobile phones produced worldwide. Living in China and working for Greenpeace, I have seen first-hand the destructive impacts this industry can have on our fragile environment.

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(2017 - Where Are Apple Products Made? New venture to India coming soon)

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In early 2016, there was a lot of tech-press buzz around the then US presidential candidate Donald Trump's eye-catching vow to force Apple to make its computers in the US. (In fairness it's not just Republicans who go in for this kind of thing, even if other politicians might adopt a more diplomatic approach. Less than three years ago Apple was praised by Barack Obama for agreeing to start making more of its Macs domestically.)

Aside from raising questions regarding Mr Trump's motives and credentials, this also made a lot of people curious about the actual location of Apple's manufacturing and assembly plants. How much of an iPad, for example, is actually made in the United States? And how many of the components with in your average Apple devices are produced under the company's own brand? Who really makes the iPhone? How is the iPhone made?

Those are just some of the questions we'll be answering in this article, as we explore the supply chain for a Mac, iPhone or iPad and look at the various places each of these products is designed, built and assembled - and why. Hopefully you, and Donald Trump, will find the answers illuminating.
Updated, 17 February 2017, with news that the iPhone SE is being built in India
Read next: iPhone buying guide 2017 | Best cheap iPhone deals UK

Where are Apple products made: Donald Trump's Apple plans

In November, Donald Trump spoke directly to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, to discuss bringing the manufacturing back to the USA. Trump is looking to provide 'very large tax cuts for corporations'. As reported by our colleagues at Macworld US the Mac Pro is already assembled in the USA, but that is also the least-selling product that Apple make. We don't see Apple moving all its manufacturing to the USA, but might have to move a part of it during Trump's presidential reign.

After being elected as president of the United States, Trump has revealed that he expects Tim Cook to bring more manufacturing to the US, potentially even for the next iPhone. In an interview with Axios, Trump said that Tim Cook has his "eyes open" to making the iPhone in the US.

And it's not just iPhones: Foxconn is reportedly considering setting up a flatscreen display factory in the US that would cost $7bn. If it goes ahead it could create 30,000 to 50,000 new jobs, though these are plans that have been on the table since 2014. Chairman Terry Gou has said that for the move to be viable Foxconn would need substantial government help in terms of access to cheap land and power.

Where are Apple products made: Apple, Foxconn and the supply chain

Before diving into the origins of individual parts within Apple products, we have to look at the overarching picture: Apple's supply chain, which has come under some scrutiny recently from a report by Amnesty International and Afrewatch that outlines child labour fuelling the manufacturing process of smartphone batteries found in Apple's products.

The biggest difference Apple has from other manufacturers is that it sources its materials and components from other manufacturers that operate throughout the globe. For example, its displays are mainly made in Japan by Japan Display and Sharp, and some are still made in South Korea by LG Display; whilst the Touch ID sensor found in its recent iPad and iPhone models are made in Taiwan by TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) and Xintec. In fact, Apple's list of suppliers stretches to more than 200 various suppliers located throughout the world.

This brings up a lot of interesting facts about Apple's supply chain, where it has to manage a huge number of suppliers and funnel their work into a single device. This is what makes Apple a fascinating company to research and understand. In order for it to operate economically, it has to source parts from various different countries and continents, manufacture and assemble the parts in another, have warehouses located around the world to supply enough devices for the whole world and finally be able to distribute it to its customers at a reliable speed.

Whilst thinking about the complex supply chain, it's interesting to work out why and how parts from around the world come together in perfect harmony to create one of the most iconic brands of our time.

Where are Apple products made: Which companies make the iPhone - and where?

Let's dive into the individual parts that make up an Apple device. More specifically, let's look at Apple's iPhone line. Here's a breakdown of the components that go into the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6:

Accelerometer: Bosch in Germany. Invensense in the United States.

Audio Chipsets and Codec: Cirrus Logic in the United States (outsourced for manufacturing).

Baseband processor: Qualcomm in the United States (outsourced for manufacturing).

Batteries: Samsung in South Korea. Huizhou Desay Battery in China.

Cameras: Sony in Japan. OmniVision in the United States produces the front-facing FaceTime camera chip but subcontracts TMSC (in Taiwan) for manufacturing.

Chipsets and Processors: Samsung in South Korea and TSMC in Taiwan. Alongside their partner GlobalFoundries in the United States.

Controller Chips: PMC Sierra and Broadcom Corp in the United States (outsourced for manufacturing).

Display: Japan Display and Sharp in Japan. LG Display in South Korea.

DRAM: TSMC in Taiwan. SK Hynix in South Korea.

eCompass: Alps Electric in Japan.

Fingerprint sensor authentication: Authentec makes it in China but outsources it to Taiwan for manufacturing.

Flash memory: Toshiba in Japan and Samsung in South Korea.

Gyroscope: STMicroelectronics in France and Italy.

Inductor coils (audio): TDK in Japan.

Main Chassis Assembly: Foxconn and Pegatron in China.

Mixed-signal chips (such as NFC): NXP in Netherlands.

Plastic Constructions (for the iPhone 5c): Hi-P and Green Point in Singapore.

Radio Frequency Modules: Win Semiconductors (module manufacturers Avago and RF Micro Devices) in Taiwan. Avago technologies and TriQuint Semiconductor in the United States. Qualcomm in the United States for LTE connectivity.

Screen and Glass (for the display): Corning (Gorilla Glass) in the United States. GT Advanced Technologies produces the sapphire crystals in the screens.

Semiconductors: Texas Instruments, Fairchild and Maxim Integrated in the United States.

Touch ID sensor: TSMC and Xintec in Taiwan.

Touchscreen Controller: Broadcom in the United States (outsourced for manufacturing).

Transmitter and Amplification Modules: Skyworks and Qorvo in the United States (outsourced for manufacturing).

As we're able to see, Apple's manufacturing and outsourcing of products is diverse and sprawls across numerous countries around the world. It should be noted that the design, development and marketing work, not to mention the creation of the software, are all done in-house by Apple in the United States. The company remains a huge employer in its home country.

If you would like to see an infographic on where the various iPhone parts are sourced from, there are some excellent ones produced by CompareCamp and FinancesOnline.

Where are Apple products made: Where is the iPhone made?

And so we return to the original question: Where is an iPhone (or an iPad, or the component parts of any Apple device) made?

The answer is: everywhere. Due to the complex supply chain within each of these companies, the number of countries involved in the manufacturing and even assembly process of Apple's devices is impossibly diverse.

Where are Apple products made: Made in China

The reason Apple sticks "Made in China" on its devices is because the majority of the parts tend to be sourced from China, but they are frequently made elsewhere (in Taiwan, for example). The assembly of Apple's devices is for the most part done in China - which is why we will continue to see "Made in China" despite a lot of these companies, including Apple, creating their designs in countries like the United States.

Looking more closely at the Chinese assembly line, it's also made people question why Apple has chosen to outsource and even assemble its devices outside its domestic territory and choose China as its primary location. The simple answer is: China allows greater flexibility and even has the natural resources to cope with high-demand manufacturing.

Where are Apple products made: Made in India?

Apple currently outsources most of its iPhone manufacture to Chinese factories, but things may be about to change on that score. Possibly not to the US - sorry, Donald - but to India.

There's been no official announcement yet, but there have been so many clues and unofficial comments that it looks pretty much nailed on.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was in talks with India government officials about the move in December 2016; Tim Cook has visited India recently, and announced a Hyderabad office for Maps developers and a developer accelerator in Bangalore; and Bloomberg says Apple will start selling used iPhones in India as part of a deal to set up iPhone manufacture there.

But most clearly, in February 2017 Buzzfeed spotted a pair of tweets by local IT minister Priyank Kharge, later deleted, in which he said he was "glad to announce initial manufacturing operations of the world's most valued company, Apple, in [the Indian state of] Karnataka". It looks like we're on.

It's now been all but confirmed that the iPhone SE will be manufactured in India. Reports indicate that Wistron will be responsible for manufacturing the smaller, entry-level iPhone this April.

"It is Apple's first such venture in India... The demands they have made are for the larger plans of the company to really scale up manufacturing in India," a senior government official told The Economic Times.

Podcast: Apple's India plans

The UK Tech Weekly Podcast team discuss the news of Apple's Indian plans in episode 51, starting at 21.40:

Where are Apple products made: In the UK?

While Apple doesn't currently manufacture any products or parts in the UK, a recent visit from the Apple CEO suggests that might soon change. As part of his lengthy European tour, Tim Cook stopped off in London and had a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May to discuss Apple's continued investment in the UK, especially post-Brexit. According to a spokesperson for May, the chat between the Prime Minister and Apple CEO is said to have been a " very positive and useful discussion".

" It was a meeting with the prime minister. It was a very positive and useful discussion. Apple have made a recent announcement about their investment in the UK and they had a conversation around that and the importance of government and business on digital skills which going forward will clearly be a huge part of the future industry. It was a chance for the prime minister to outline her plans for negotiating our EU exit. It was also a chance for her to reiterate and welcome Apple's investment in the UK."

Following the chat with the Prime Minister, the Apple CEO also met with the Mayor of London about Apple's future in the UK capital. Don't forget, Apple announced back in 2016 that the company is building a new UK headquarters in London's Battersea Power Station, so it has big plans for the UK.

Great to meet @MayorofLondon today. We are incredibly excited about Apple's future in London and the ????! https://t.co/pOYdisFAit
- Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 9, 2017

Where are Apple products made: How much does an iPhone cost to make?

Finally, we should also look at the cost of manufacturing certain phones (we will quote the figures in US dollars, in order to avoid any currency fluctuation conversions).

According to research firm IHS, the iPhone 6s Plus (Apple's current flagship phone, at the time of writing) costs Apple $236 to manufacture (once manufacturing costs are added), whilst it retails at over three times the price at $749 for the 16GB model. What's even more interesting to note is the extra storage found in the 64GB model costs Apple around $17 extra to make, while it charges its customers an extra $100 for the extra storage space.

In the UK the iPhone 6s Plus 64GB can be found for £599.

On 4 April 2016, IHS also released the cost estimate for the iPhone SE, which comes in at about $160 with manufacturing costs added, whilst the retail price sits at $399 ( £379 in the UK).

Where are Apple products made: Apple vs Samsung

It's interesting to understand the cost of the manufacturing process, as when compared to other manufacturers like Samsung, who make a lot of Apple's internal parts and manufacture a greater percentage of components within their own devices; it costs Samsung more to build the Galaxy S6 Edge 64GB over the Apple iPhone 6 Plus 64GB model. The Galaxy S6 Edge 64GB used to be found for around £500 on Amazon.

This all goes to show how complex and yet how successful Apple is as a logistical engine, keeping down costs and managing a vast and complicated supply chain with links around the globe.

It is known as one of the most talked about brands in the technology space and has an ever-increasing popularity with investors. Apple is quite simply one of the most successful companies of our times, and yet it barely manufactures its own products and still manages to sell them for a higher price, despite often featuring slightly lower hardware specifications.

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Indian firm gets contract to build iPhone SE

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In early 2016, there was a lot of tech-press buzz around the then US presidential candidate Donald Trump's eye-catching vow to force Apple to make its computers in the US. (In fairness it's not just Republicans who go in for this kind of thing, even if other politicians might adopt a more diplomatic approach.

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(2017 - Apple’s webpage on ‘Supplier Responsibility’)

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Improving Suppliers

We conducted 705 supplier assessments in 2016. Almost 30 per cent of these were first-time assessments for suppliers new to the program. By working closely with our suppliers, we were able to increase the number of high-performing supplier sites by 59 per cent and decrease the number of low-performing supplier sites by 31 per cent compared with 2015.

209 High Performers (90-100)

330 Medium Performers (60-89)

35 Low Performers (≤59)

332 High Performers (90-100)

349 Medium Performers (60-89)

24 Low Performers (≤59)

In order to know whether our suppliers are progressing, we conduct regular assessments. We assess suppliers in three main categories: labour and human rights, environmental responsibility, and health and safety. Each category is scored on a 100-point scale based on more than 500 data points that correspond to our Code of Conduct. We expect our suppliers to show steady improvement, and we work with them to achieve this through education, training tools and support.

85
Average Assessment Score

87
Average Assessment Score

87
Average Assessment Score

Scores issued on a 100-point scale in 2016

Throughout our supply chain, we're driving programs that minimise carbon emissions, eliminate landfill waste, conserve water and replace unsafe chemicals. We're also helping our suppliers reduce the amount of energy they use and make the switch to renewable energy. We're advancing renewable energy usage by working with suppliers to create 4 gigawatts of renewable energy around the world by 2020 that will help power their facilities. In 2016, we tripled the number of supplier sites participating in our energy efficiency program, resulting in a reduction of more than 150,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. A number of large suppliers have already committed to powering all Apple manufacturing with renewable energy by the end of 2018. These commitments will reduce carbon emissions by 7 million tonnes per year - the equivalent of removing 1.5 million cars from the road for a year. We're even taking responsibility for our paper supply chain: more than 99 per cent of the paper used in our packaging comes from either recycled wood fibre or sustainably managed forests and controlled wood sources.

Case Study

In 2015, we started a zero-waste program for our final assembly suppliers. One of the participants was Tech-Com in Shanghai. Working closely with the facility, we discovered that more than 20 per cent of the waste it produced was being incinerated or going to landfill. We partnered with our supplier and its local recycling facility to develop a better process for separating and recycling waste. As a result, Tech-Com is now able to recycle all its waste rather than sending it to landfill or an incinerator. Tech-Com also developed a new process for managing food waste, allowing it to send this waste to a local composter instead of landfill. It then used what it had learnt to develop a process that helped its own suppliers collect and reuse packaging material. Since the program started, Tech-Com has diverted more than 10,000 tonnes of waste from landfill, earning the company a well-deserved UL Zero Waste to Landfill validation in 2016.

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We conducted 705 supplier assessments in 2016. Almost 30 per cent of these were first-time assessments for suppliers new to the program. By working closely with our suppliers, we were able to increase the number of high-performing supplier sites by 59 per cent and decrease the number of low-performing supplier sites by 31 per cent compared with 2015.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/04/20/apple-pledges-stop-mining-iphone-materials/

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WHAT CAN YOU DO TO IMPROVE MINING PRACTICES:

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WHAT CAN YOU DO TO IMPROVE MINING PRACTICES:

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http://econet.ca/issues/mining/whatyoucando.html

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Essential Question: What impact does the use of my smartphone have on the environment?