<영문 기사>

Apple slammed for environmental exploitation

By Park Han-na

The rivalry between Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. was brought to the fore once again after an international organization slammed both tech giants on antienvironmental labor practices.

According to Friends of the Earth, an international environmental group, Apple is still mum on the issue of using tin mined from Indonesia, whereas Samsung has already responded by saying it will address the issue as soon as it can.

“Apple has refused to answer its own customers’ questions about Bangka -- even though Apple almost certainly uses the island’s tin,” the online petition stated.

Bangka is the Indonesian island where the tin comes from.

Samsung, on the other hand, has admitted to the usage and said via an email sent to the group that it was committed to addressing the problem.

“While we do not have a direct relationship with tin suppliers from Bangka Island, we do know that some of the tin that we use for manufacturing our products does originate from this area,” Samsung wrote in a publicized email.

The Seoul-based company also said it is contacting suppliers, industrial bodies and government to search for solutions.

“It’s great Samsung has taken an industry lead by tracking its supply chains all the way to Indonesia’s tin mines and committing to taking responsibility for helping tackle the devastating impact that mining tin for electronics has on people and the environment,” Craig Bennett, the group’s Director of Policy and Campaigns, said in a statement.

“Rival Apple is already playing catch-up on the high street in terms of smartphone sales -- it’s time it followed Samsung’s lead by coming clean about its whole supply chains too,” he said.

Friends of the Earth claims that unregulated tin mining at Bangka is linked to child labor and is possibly a cause of extensive environmental damage by destroying tropical forests and coral reefs. The practice also allegedly kills 150 miners a year, according to an investigation jointly conducted by the group and the Guardian.

Tin is a vital component in all electronic gadgets, including smartphones and tablets, for the solder that holds together resistors, transistors and circuit boards.

International organizations have grown increasingly concerned about such anti-fair trade issues, including the exploitation of child labor and the environmental damage caused by commercial activity.

Last year, Friends of the Earth launched an online petition urging Apple and Samsung to stop using the tin. When there was no response from Apple, the group issued another petition signed by some 20,000 consumers as of Sunday.

The group previously launched a campaign called “Make It Better” backed by some 15,000 individuals in November last year, calling for new rules to the top smartphone makers and to be transparent with its supply chains.

(hnpark@heraldcorp.com)