For more than a decade, the mining of minerals used to produce tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold (3TG) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been linked to the funding of armed groups waging a civil war in the country. These metals are widely used in many industries and are commonly found in electronic products.
HP says it has played a leading role in international efforts to achieve conflict-free sources within the DRC, and it helped launch the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) Extractives work group. This work group has established the CFS Program. "We approached this issue with the same rigor as other complex operating challenges and have achieved something notable," said Tony Prophet, senior vice president, Supply Chain Operations, Printers and Personal Systems Group, HP. "We are committed to collaborating across our supply chain as well as with NGOs and industry organizations to drive responsible sourcing within the Democratic Republic of the Congo and achieve a conflict-free supply chain." As part of its commitment to work toward solutions in the DRC and neighboring countries, HP has been active with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), industry organizations and government entities, including the Enough Project, the U.S. State Department and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
"HP has shown leadership throughout the past four years around addressing conflict minerals within its supply chain. Publishing its list of smelters is another significant step in the right direction, because it puts pressure on smelters to be audited as conflict free," said Sasha Lezhnev, senior policy analyst, the Enough Project. "Just a year ago, companies were afraid of publishing lists of smelters, but this added layer of transparency can help get our consumer products to be conflict free."
HP is committed to providing an increased level of supply chain transparency for its customers and other external stakeholders. In 2008, HP was the first IT company to begin to publish its first-tier supplier names -- representing approximately 95 percent of HP supplier spend. Along with the smelter list publication, HP today also is publishing the factory street addresses and product types of its product final assembly suppliers.
These initiatives are a part of HP's larger Supply Chain Social and Environmental Responsibility program.
HP has one of the industry's most extensive supply chains, comprising more than 1,000 production suppliers and tens of thousands of non-production suppliers, and spanning more than 45 countries and territories.
HP continues to work with suppliers around the globe to deliver substantial and lasting social and environmental performance improvements on a broad range of topics, including labor and ethics, health and safety, environment, and management systems.
Additional information about HP's commitment to conflict-free minerals is available, click here.
