Apple to establish if tin from Bangka Island is used in iPhones

Apple is investigating whether tin mined from Bangka Island in Indonesia, where child labour and environmental damage from the mining has been reported, is used in its iPhones and other products.

The Guardian revealed last year that tin mining in Bangka Island is largely unregulated and depends on child labour. As well as causing environmental damage, it is said to also be responsible for 150 deaths of miners every year.

Apple said in a statement: “Recent concerns about the illegal mining of tin from this region prompted Apple to lead a fact-finding visit to learn more.”

The Californian-based company will work with the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and is funding a new study into tin mining in the Bangka Island region so it “can better understand the situation”.

Friends of the Earth said the move was “a welcome first step. But Apple is still refusing to publicly come clean about where the tin in its smartphones is from.”

Pressure on the biggest smartphone companies, Samsung and Apple, was lead by the Friends of the Earth Make it Better campaign to force them to declare publicly whether they use Bangka tin in their electronic products. The campaign also called for the smartphone companies to implement a plan to put a stop to the human and environmental problems caused by tin mining and to be fully transparent about the companies in their supply chains.

Following this, Samsung admitted in April that its phones may contain tin from the Bangka mine area but that they were not sourcing it directly.

According to Apple, 249 of its suppliers use tin in components for its products.