Tech companies doing better on use of conflict minerals

A new report issued yesterday from the Enough Project says the situation with big tech companies using conflict minerals in Africa is generally improving, although with plenty of room still to go. Those minerals are at the heart of civil strife, especially in the Congo, that has resulted in the millions of people dying as a result of armed conflict or starvation. But again, improving.

Says CNN:

That’s thanks in part to the fact that tech companies like Intel, HP, Dell, Microsoft and Apple have made efforts to trace the source of metals used in their devices. An auditing system for smelters, the industrial facilities that process raw metals, also has been put in place. A certification system is in the works that would allow companies to certify some metals from Congo as “conflict free.”

Not everyone scored well. Nikon, Sharp, Canon, and HTC scored exceptionally poorly. Worst of all? Nintendo, which the Enough Project says does not seem to have made any effort to avoid these minerals whatsoever.