A new scandal splashes Apple with cobalt from its batteries

12 inch MacBook batteries

Apple is facing a new scandal related to the origin of the raw materials with which the Chinese make the batteries for their devices. Amnesty International has denounced that the cobalt with which the batteries of Apple products and other large technology companies are made come from the labor of underage children in the Congo.

As you well know, there are many technology companies that manufacture their products and components of their products in China. Now, although the media are talking about Apple and its relationship with this problem, companies such as Microsoft, Sony, Samsung and even Volkswagen are in the same bag when it comes to origin of the cobalt used in the batteries of its products. 

Years ago Apple was involved in a scandal of this type and as a result of this, much stricter raw material control processes were born in Apple. Apple's control with its suppliers has reached so much that they annually issue a comprehensive report detailing all the movements that the Cupertino company has made with certain suppliers. In the event that Apple's suppliers do not follow the conditions that it dictates they would face sanctions from those on the block or even no longer belong to their group of component suppliers. 

However, despite the controls that Apple has from its suppliers, it assures in a statement that it has no possibility of knowing what the origin of the cobalt present in its batteries is. We can mention that the NGO that has denounced the problem speaks of companies that buy cobalt mineral and then sell it to companies like Congo Dongfang Minery which is nothing more than a branch of a Chinese mineral supplier called Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Ltd.

MacBook batteries

It will not be easy to get to the origin of that cobalt and it is that later Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Ltd. distributes the mineral in different Chinese and Korean companies that finally manufacture the batteries so that they later reach companies like Apple and their assembly lines at Foxconn.

The problem with all this is that since cobalt is not considered a dangerous mineral, the authorities do not require that there be any type of report detailing its origin and because of this we are learning that in the Republic of the Congo there are more than 35.000 minors who are working 12 and 24 hour shifts in cobalt mines to charge a maximum of two euros per day.

As Apple does not want firewood to be made from the fallen tree, it has rushed to send the BBC a statement condemning these actions:

Underage labor is not tolerated in our supply chain and we are proud to have led the industry in pioneering new safeguards. We are currently evaluating dozens of different materials, including cobalt, in order to identify workplace and environmental hazards, as well as Apple's opportunities for effective, scalable, and sustainable change.


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  1.   Jose Fco Cast said

    Is a delicate topic. But the top politicians of those countries that cocks make them fix it. If I buy sugus for a penny and I buy for millions what the hell I know who makes them. Walk me hot laugh people. He he