Continuation of this topic: Fairphone's toxic chemicals policy
Fairphone replied to my message and sent me an interactive map with suppliers, which I appreciated.
However, they did not answer my questions directly and I think that’s precisely what made Ethical Consumer give Fairphone a bad rating in terms of toxic chemicals use and environmental policies. I couldn’t find any information in their various reports, including the list of suppliers, smelters and refiners, regarding the use of harmful chemicals such as phthalates, PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs).
I only found a text saying that your “programs address a variety of issues, ranging from reducing the use of hazardous chemicals at the factories to enhancing employee influence over day-to-day operations by strengthening workermanagement dialogue”.
I think this information is positive, but their answer telling me or other inquiries to find it by ourselves could do more harm than good for Fairphone. Besides, the information is a bit too general and doesn’t provide the specific information on those chemicals that I was looking for. And I am not going to go through every single one of your suppliers to find out whether they’re using them, because I think that should be their job.
To sum up, despite appreciating the interactive map they sent me (https://www.fairphone.com/nl/hoe-wij-werken/mapping-phone-made/), their response was quite underwhelming and it definitely affects my opinion on Fairphone negatively if I have to recommend it or decide to buy a Fairphone.