LONDON : What began as an awareness campaign in 2010 has in just over a decade grown into Fairphone, which last year sold thousands of phones made from responsibly sourced and recycled materials.
Recycling is an important feature of the energy transition where companies, governments and individuals look to cut their carbon footprints and meet stringent emissions targets. "After a few years of campaigning we realised we are not creating an alternative ... We decided to become a part of this industry, become a company," Gouwens said in an interview for the Reuters Next conference."Our target is for 70per cent of our materials to be fairly sourced by 2023.
Gouwens said the supply chain was complex and that the cobalt going into the rechargeable batteries used for phones was not"100per cent traceable".