[Press Release] Hirose Electric Cooperates with Dutch Smartphone Manufacturer Fairphone as Japan's First Supplier to Integrate Fairtrade Gold. December 1, 2021
Hirose Electric Cooperates with Dutch Smartphone Manufacturer Fairphone as Japan's First Supplier to Integrate Fairtrade Gold.
- Promoting Ethical Gold Procurement and Achieving SDGs -
HIROSE Electric Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Japan), a manufacturer specializing in connectors, announced today its partnership with Fairphone (Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands), a manufacturer of environmentally friendly and ethical smartphones, as Japan's first supplier integrating Fairtrade gold in the Fairphone supply chain.
Through the connector products supplied to Fairphone, Hirose will support ethical trade in gold and support the supply chain for sustainable smartphone manufacturing.
● Fairtrade Gold
Fairtrade is the leading certification and ethical solution for gold, widely recognized for improving conditions for artisanal and small scale miners, tackling unfair pay, dangerous working conditions, and environmental protection. Fairtrade gold is sourced from 15 mines in Peru, all of which meet the Fairtrade Standard for Gold and Precious Metals and are audited on a regular audit cycle to ensure compliance with the Fairtrade Standards. Fairtrade miners benefit from the Fairtrade Standards, including fair prices and investment through the Fairtrade Premium investment.
● About the Collaboration on Fairtrade Gold
Hirose, together with Fairphone and the Fairtrade Foundation, investigated how to increase the amount of responsible gold in Fairphone products. As a result, we were able to integrate more Fairtrade gold into the Fairphone supply chain, which is an important step towards increasing responsible gold in the electronics sector. Due to this collaboration, Fairphone's finished product will have increased Fairtrade gold volume and an equivalent amount of Fairtrade Premium will be paid to support gold the miners and their communities in Peru mines.
*Please contact the Fairtrade Foundation for more information.
● Future Development
This collaboration is a business model that allows gold miners to receive a fair price and Fairtrade Premium for their gold. This will have a positive impact on the small mining (Artisanal and Small-scale gold Mining, ASM) communities that mine the gold, enabling them to operate more safely and support their communities. The collaboration will also contribute to the advancement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). HIROSE will continue to contribute to a more ethical and sustainable electronics industry.
Hirose Supports Sustainable Development Goals
● Corporate Profile and Related Information
■ About Hirose Electric Co., Ltd.
Hirose Electric, as a global leader in the connectivity industry, specializes in the development and manufacture of electronic connectors in a wide range of industries, including industrial, automotive, telecommunications, medical and consumer electronics with a focus on smartphones. With more than 80 years of experience, Hirose’s expertise is not only limited to product miniaturization, but also included high speed, high reliability, high power and advanced production technologies. Hirose has 31 sales offices globally, 8 manufacturing facilities and over 4,500 employees worldwide generating sales of 130 billion JPY in the 2019/20 fiscal year.
https://www.hirose.com/corporate/en/about/corporate_data
■ About Fairphone
Fairphone is building a market for ethical phones and motivating the industry to act more responsibly. Fairphone designs, produces and sells smartphones to uncover the supply chain behind their products, raise awareness for the most urgent issues, and prove that it’s possible to do things differently. Together with partners and collaborators, Fairphone works to make caring for people and the planet a natural part of doing business.
https://www.fairphone.com
■ About Fairphone4
https://shop.fairphone.com