Coltan status @ Fairphone

Discuss The Industry
1

Dear All,

I know that Fairphone is supposed to follow some ethical and environmental principles, but I would like to know the followings questions:

  • Does Fairphone includes Coltan or any rare metal that are extracted outside Europe?
  • If yes, from which countries are obtained?
  • Aren’t any alternatives metals to Coltan?
  • Do you know if regular cellphones also include Coltan and other rare metals?

Thank you.
Best regards

jp

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2

This should answer most of your questions: https://www.fairphone.com/roadmap/mining/ (coltan is the ore from which tantalum is extracted). As far as I know, there are no alternatives.

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3

As far as I know, capacitors made with tantalum (coltan) instead of aluminum or other alternatives have a longer lifespan and less electrical losses. A better capacitor would be made of ceramics but these are simply too big for use in a phone.

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