Samsung, Apple, HTC & Co have no doubt taken note of a small Dutch upstart in the mobile phone industry. Though the firm might be a long way from reaching sales in the millions, it has an idea and not least a message that resonates far and wide.

E-WASTE REDUCTION

Right from the start it was the message that was Fairphone’s chief aim, not the product. In establishing the Dutch company six years ago, the intention of the founders was to draw attention to the social problems, considerable pollution and wasted resources associated with most mobile phones. But when they discovered that not one phone on the market could be identified as a better alternative, a new idea was born. As founder Bas van Abel later said, it was “necessary to change the system from the inside.” He and his small team decided to make a smartphone that caused minimal damage to people and the environment. In that way it could become the symbol for a “fairer electronics” movement.

The raw materials had to be as sustainable and recyclable as possible, production as fair to the environment as possible, durability of the phone as good as possible and last but not least it should be as repairable as possible. After two-and-a-half years as a pure campaign organisation Fairphone was founded as a production company in January 2013, with three members of staff. From that point things went fast. Sustainability-aware consumers ordered the first 25,000 phones by December that year and in 2014, 35,000 phones were sent on their way. In December 2015 Fairphone 2 arrived, the first modular mobile phone on the market with each module replaceable. On nearly all other phones, the failure of one component requires replacement of the entire device.

Each and every part accounted for. Most phone makers cannot account for the origin of the materials used in their products. Fairphone has set new standards for transparency in the supply chain and insists on responsibly sourced materials and labour. The phone is built in modules to make individual parts easily replaceable.[/caption]

Trail blazing modularity

To claim the ability to do something nobody else can do is asking to be put under a microscope. The non-profit consumer and environmental protection group, Deutsche Umwelthilfe (German Environmental Aid) has taken a close look at Fairphone. In a report published in September, Electronics Goes Green, Deutsche Umwelthilfe concludes that Fairphone is “on average more sustainable” and “trail blazing” in its modularity.

“Fairphone 2 breaks with accepted conventions. Instead of jamming so much technology into a at frame that it becomes virtually impossible to repair and after two years use is chucked into a drawer or trash can, the Dutch company sells a robust unit where durability is the decisive factor,” states Deutsche Umwelthilfe. In Germany, Fairphone’s largest market, consumer magazine Ökotest similarly gives Fairphone 2 its top mark of “sehr gut.”

“We’ve taken the first step, but it’ll be a long journey”

Inspiring an industry

Alongside production of Fairphone, the original campaign to make mobile phone manufacturing more sustainable and “fair” continues. It is here that the company’s PR manager director since September 2014, Daria Koreniushkina, plays a vital role. Unlike other companies, Fairphone’s communications strategy is not aimed at maximising profit, but at influencing and establishing a community that does not necessarily have to buy the company’s product. There are lots of people who have not done so yet, she says, because they have perfectly good phones already. Koreniushkina and her colleagues, part of a 60-strong workforce at the Amsterdam headquarters, are also working to inspire the entire mobile phone business to think in terms of “fair” electronics. The company provides open access to information it has gathered on conflict-free gold mines, the latest sustainable raw materials, new recyclable plastic covers and even the economics behind each Fairphone.

The expectation is that the big phone companies will be looking over Fairphone’ shoulders. The company hopes its campaign will influence their choice of materials and production processes. The same hope is attached to smaller start-ups, like Phoneblogs and Puzzlephone, which are all pushing to limit electronic waste associated with their products by making it possible to easily exchange damaged components.

Conflict free. Gold, tungsten, tantalum and tin are all used in mobile phones and the mining of them is internationally recognised as beig in conflict with human rights in many areas. With the launch of its first phone in 2013, Fairphone was among the first to use only certified conflict-free tin and tantalum from the Congo[/caption]

A long hard road

It will not be an easy task, predicts Carina Ohm, Ernst & Young’s director for Climate Change and Sustainability Services. She and others like her keep an eye on the sustainability efforts made by various business sectors. The telecommunications industry is not a sustainability leader. Fairphone, as she puts it, operates in a “difficult market.” Market research in both Europe and North America shows that consumers upgrade their smartphones with increasing frequency, typically replacing them after one-and-a-half to two years of use. “Our impression is that it’s going faster and faster,” says Ohm. She views Fairphone’s customer group as a niche. Another market trend, the sharing economy, or renting rather than buying, could rebalance the scales. If Fairphone o ers a phone for purchase or rent that includes regular hardware updates, it gains a clear competitive advantage, says Ohm. Whatever the strategy chosen, Koreniushkina and her colleagues are digging in for a long and tough battle to reform the mobile phone industry. “We’ve taken the first step, but it’ll be a long journey. We’ve always known that. Even Fairphone itself is a long way from being one-hundred per cent fair and sustainable. But we can see that it works. First we have proved the existence of a market for it. Second we have demonstrated that the entire production apparatus can be influenced,” she says. Fairphone has pilot projects running with a number of important players in the market, including circuit board maker AT&S, which also supplies the big phone companies. If these prove successful, the next step will be easier to take. Deutsche Umwelthilfe actively supports this approach. “The concept ought to lead to changes in the supply chain, the production process and in product design among other mobile phone producers. The big players should fall in line,” it says. Only time will tell if they do. •

TEXT Rasmus Thirup Beck / PHOTO Fairphone