Conflict Minerals in the Compute Sector: Estimating Extent of Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, and Gold Use in ICT Products
Recent legislation has focused attention on the supply chains of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold (3TG), specifically those originating from the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The unique properties of these so-called “conflict minerals” lead to their use in many products, ranging...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Chemical Society (ACS)
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102310 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8043-2385 |
| _version_ | 1811096887681351680 |
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| author | Fitzpatrick, Colin Miller, T. Reed Roth, Richard Kirchain, Randolph Olivetti, Elsa A. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Materials Processing Center |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Materials Processing Center Fitzpatrick, Colin Miller, T. Reed Roth, Richard Kirchain, Randolph Olivetti, Elsa A. |
| author_sort | Fitzpatrick, Colin |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Recent legislation has focused attention on the supply chains of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold (3TG), specifically those originating from the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The unique properties of these so-called “conflict minerals” lead to their use in many products, ranging from medical devices to industrial cutting tools. This paper calculates per product use of 3TG in several information, communication, and technology (ICT) products such as desktops, servers, laptops, smart phones, and tablets. By scaling up individual product estimates to global shipment figures, this work estimates the influence of the ICT sector on 3TG mining in covered countries. The model estimates the upper bound of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold use within ICT products to be 2%, 0.1%, 15%, and 3% of the 2013 market share, respectively. This result is projected into the future (2018) based on the anticipated increase in ICT device production. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:50:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/102310 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:50:57Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | American Chemical Society (ACS) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1023102022-09-29T21:55:56Z Conflict Minerals in the Compute Sector: Estimating Extent of Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, and Gold Use in ICT Products Fitzpatrick, Colin Miller, T. Reed Roth, Richard Kirchain, Randolph Olivetti, Elsa A. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Materials Processing Center Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division Olivetti, Elsa A. Miller, T. Reed Roth, Richard Kirchain, Randolph Recent legislation has focused attention on the supply chains of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold (3TG), specifically those originating from the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The unique properties of these so-called “conflict minerals” lead to their use in many products, ranging from medical devices to industrial cutting tools. This paper calculates per product use of 3TG in several information, communication, and technology (ICT) products such as desktops, servers, laptops, smart phones, and tablets. By scaling up individual product estimates to global shipment figures, this work estimates the influence of the ICT sector on 3TG mining in covered countries. The model estimates the upper bound of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold use within ICT products to be 2%, 0.1%, 15%, and 3% of the 2013 market share, respectively. This result is projected into the future (2018) based on the anticipated increase in ICT device production. Hewlett-Packard Company 2016-04-28T13:13:32Z 2016-04-28T13:13:32Z 2014-12 2014-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0013-936X 1520-5851 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102310 Fitzpatrick, Colin, Elsa Olivetti, T. Reed Miller, Richard Roth, and Randolph Kirchain. “Conflict Minerals in the Compute Sector: Estimating Extent of Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, and Gold Use in ICT Products.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 49, no. 2 (January 20, 2015): 974–981. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8043-2385 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es501193k Environmental Science & Technology Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Chemical Society (ACS) Prof. Olivetti via Angie Locknar |
| spellingShingle | Fitzpatrick, Colin Miller, T. Reed Roth, Richard Kirchain, Randolph Olivetti, Elsa A. Conflict Minerals in the Compute Sector: Estimating Extent of Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, and Gold Use in ICT Products |
| title | Conflict Minerals in the Compute Sector: Estimating Extent of Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, and Gold Use in ICT Products |
| title_full | Conflict Minerals in the Compute Sector: Estimating Extent of Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, and Gold Use in ICT Products |
| title_fullStr | Conflict Minerals in the Compute Sector: Estimating Extent of Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, and Gold Use in ICT Products |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conflict Minerals in the Compute Sector: Estimating Extent of Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, and Gold Use in ICT Products |
| title_short | Conflict Minerals in the Compute Sector: Estimating Extent of Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, and Gold Use in ICT Products |
| title_sort | conflict minerals in the compute sector estimating extent of tin tantalum tungsten and gold use in ict products |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102310 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8043-2385 |
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