Tech Talks Trick or treat? We have a 'tech for good' treat for you in the form of Fairphone
Oct 31, 2023
Miquel Ballester Salvà, Head of Product Management at Fairphone, leads a social enterprise making sustainable, modular smartphones. He discusses Fairphone’s mission and theory of change. Topics include supply-chain projects like the Fair Cobalt Alliance, material choices, e-waste take-back and recycling, balancing sustainability with business, and how modularity and longevity drive impact.
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Product As A Lever For Industry Change
- Fairphone uses product development to drive systemic industry change rather than only marketing sustainability.
- They pair a tangible phone with supply-chain projects like the Fair Cobalt Alliance and living wage pilots to scale industry practices.
Create Replicable Initiatives Not Private Advantages
- Build initiatives that others can replicate rather than hoard best practices inside your company.
- Fairphone created the Fair Cobalt Alliance to bring big players together and scale mining improvements.
Material Strategy Depends On Real-World Supply
- Fairphone balances recycled and fair (improved virgin) materials based on each material's realities, not ideology.
- Example: cobalt needs improved mining standards because demand outstrips feasible recycled supply.