Intel | Responsible Sourcing

We normally reserve this space for shiny new apps, initiatives, and product offerings that are aligned with an excellent social mission. So it may be a bit of a surprise that we are calling out a huge manufacturer here, but Intel is truly taking a stand for humanity with its resolve to source raw materials from conflict-free mines.

Microprocessor production requires gold, tin, tantalum, and tungsten – minerals largely mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – the profits from which have financed brutal conflict and resulted in the deaths of millions of innocent people. Carolyn Duran, Intel’s supply chain director, has responded by leveraging their enormous buying power to encourage transparency programs for the smelting plants regarding where they source their raw materials. Five years later, nearly half of the world’s smelters of these materials now pass conflict-free audits, shrinking the market for illegally traded minerals and reducing warlords’ profits. Duran hopes to declare Intel’s entire product line conflict-free by 2016, and inspire companies in other industries to do the same. [source: Fast Company]