The fruits of child labor in everybody’s pocket
A recent report by Amnesty International claims ten percent of cobalt used by today’s technology industry relies on child labor. Since cobalt is used in the production of lithium-ion batteries, it is part of every mobile device as well as products from the rapidly growing consumer electronics markets of electric cars and drones. About one third of the workers in cobalt mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), from which half of the world’s cobalt is extracted, are child laborers. Even though most cobalt is mined by major industrial companies, the cobalt from the small-scale operations in the DRC, extracted with basic tools and without protective clothing, is bound to enter the supply chain of major technology companies such as LG, Microsoft, Vodafone, Sony, HP, Huawei, Lenovo, Apple, Samsung and Dell. Despite due diligence guides being provided to companies, many fail to meet international standards set by the UN. This is especially reckless considering the fact that the DRC is the single most important source of cobalt and that the poor working conditions and child labor have been widely known for several years.
For further information and the full report, click here.
Ocean freighters from Amazon?
According to a report from the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), Amazon has registered one of its China based subsidiaries to operate as a freight forwarder in the United States and is now listed in the Ocean Transportation Intermediaries, giving it authorization to also sell ocean freight services to other companies. Amazon has not yet released an official note, so there is just speculation about the extent of Amazon’s undertakings and the beginning of operations.
By becoming its own ocean freight forwarder, Amazon would gain significantly more control over its supply chain. At the same time the e-commerce giant obtains the ability to lower shipping costs as well as provide Chinese sellers direct access to the entire American customer base.
For more information, click here.
Safer, faster, cheaper and more sustainable production
Local Motors, a Phoenix–based company using digital manufacturing techniques to create appliances and cars, has designed and built a fully operational prototype car, that also happens to be partially recyclable, in just a little over two months. The project resulted from a $150 million corporate venture capital investment and founding of a new business innovation center in Silicon Valley by the Airbus Group. Local Motors Chief Executive Jay Rogers expects his company’s techniques to be easily adaptable to the aerospace industry, hence Airbus’ involvement. Using 3D-printing technology in aircraft construction could greatly improve production speed while making the overall process a lot cheaper in an industry whose trademark has been long and expensive production processes for over a century.
For more information, click here.
Have a nice weekend!
