How the Dodd-Frank Bill will make sure there are no conflict minerals in Apple's iPad?

That's a question I'm asking myself since the Dodd-Frank Bill Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law last July, as it included a provision that was specifically addressing conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which might be used in the manufacturing process of the iPad (as well as other e-readers and tablet computers).

The bill, as Laura Heaton explained last July on Change.org, "includes a provision requiring U.S. companies that import products containing certain minerals to file an annual report declaring whether they source their minerals from Congo or one of the nine surrounding countries, since much of Congo’s mineral wealth is smuggled out of the region through its neighbors. If a company declares that its supply chain passes through the region, it will have to report what steps it is taking to trace the origin of the minerals and ensure that its purchases don’t fund armed groups responsible for atrocities in eastern Congo."

I'm still trying to figure out how companies like Apple address the new provision so I was happy to learn that IHS and GreenBiz Group will have a free webcast that about this issue on Janurary 20. Spekaers include Rory King, Director, Global Product Marketing, IHS , Andrew K. Reese, Editor, Supply & Demand Chain Executive, Scott Wilson, Content Solution Strategist, IHS, and it will be moderated by John Davies, VP, Senior Analyst, GreenBiz Group .

Here are some more details on the webcast from its webpage:

Almost overnight, deeply entrenched high tech industry experts and the general public alike, were startled by the inclusion of "conflict minerals" being signed into law within the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The six-page legislative provisions signed on July 21, 2010 will have a direct impact on the supply chain, especially consumer electronics companies square in its cross-hairs. Gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten are among materials subject to regulatory requirements that seek to limit or eliminate materials that support parties linked with human rights abuses and funding armed groups in or near the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The most immediately affected are publicly traded companies, most notably in the high tech sector, who are subject to pending SEC reporting requirements. However, the question remains: Will a conflict minerals movement sink enough teeth into the supply chain to fundamentally change price, availability and supplier selection for these metals and subsequently blind-side adjacent supply chains and all regions around the globe? Find out.

Join IHS and GreenBiz Group on this live webcast as they unveil the results of an exclusive survey that gauged awareness, sentiment, concern, and preparedness of the supply chain in response to conflict minerals traceability and accountability. They will share findings from the study and share practitioner insight as to such questions as:

• What is this Conflict Minerals law and what are the conflict metals?
• Where are these materials used throughout the supply chain?
• How prepared are companies and their suppliers to trace this information today?
• What are the most current global conflict mineral concerns?
• What are the current best practices in environmental compliance?

You can sign for it here.

You can learn more on conflict minerals on this video:



Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting Sustainable Reading!

Will we have a federal subsidies for green printing?

Well, it might be. What used to be only a fantasy of few is becoming an actual plan .

Frank Locantore reported on Better Green Project that "c (PBO) will announce plans to introduce legislation in the US Congress that will allow companies to receive refunds from state sales tax as a reward for purchasing environmentally responsible print projects."

This announcement is going to take place this month (July 19-20) at the Print Oasis 2010, which is a print buyers conference and exhibit. Now, at first it sounded strange to me - regulation that will support green printing? But in second thought, why not? I mean, so far the green printing market is based on voluntary initiatives of companies and printers, but if that's a lesson we can learn from other green markets, it's that voluntary initiatives are fine and can change things to some degree, but to see a real change, we need a regulation that will back it up and provide adequate incentives to do the right thing.

According to Suzanne Morgan, President and Founder of PBO, who introduced this initiative in an email last month, "this legislation proposes that any print project that is bought in an environmentally sustainable way is eligible for refunds of state sales taxes by the Federal government."

The most interesting question to me (and others as you can read on tree dead edition) would be what would be the standards a printing project will need to meet to be eligible for the refund. Ms. Morgan's email doesn't go too much into details (it promises that the exact legislation is very achievable and will be presented in detail on July 19, 2010 ), but it implies that the standards can be recycled, include 15% or more PCW, are printed on paper that is legally harvested, etc.

Given that the minimum post-consumer waste content required by the EPA for uncoated papers is 30% (it's 10% for coated paper), 15% sounds a bit low. It would be also interesting to see if there will be a mention of FSC certification and chlorine usage, which are also crucial elements.

I guess we'll have to wait for July 19 and see. In any case I believe POB deserves big kudos for their efforts. If regulation can support and incetivize green buildings, green cars, green energy and many other green products and services, why not green printing??

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!