These materials, known as conflict minerals, are abundant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and surrounding countries, a region that has endured sustained conflict and human rights violations. However, we recognize that there are raw materials beyond the four conflict minerals that are subject to controversy based on social and environmental concerns regarding how they are obtained. Emerging regulation in the European Union will focus on all conflict-affected and high-risk areas around the world, not just the DRC. With this in mind, Micron updated our program in 2018 to focus on responsible minerals, encompassing a broader reach of minerals and geographies.
Micron is committed to ensuring that minerals used in the manufacture of our products do not directly or indirectly fund violence or human rights abuses in the DRC or adjoining countries. We have adopted a goal of sourcing entirely from smelters validated as conflict-free by third-party audit. To this end, we seek to align to international due diligence best practices set forth in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Due Diligence Guidelines for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High Risk Areas and comply with Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires publicly traded U.S. companies to track, monitor and report annually on conflict minerals in supply chains.
Collaboration among government, industry and communities is key to achieving a conflict-free supply chain.
Collaboration among government, industry and communities is key to achieving a conflict-free supply chain. Reflecting this philosophy, Micron is a founding member of the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), a consortium that works across the minerals industry to develop a common approach to address conflict mineral supply chains and develop future protocols that may expand to include other minerals. The RMI includes a third-party auditing process, due diligence tools and a public database documenting where each smelter stands in its conflict-free journey. In 2018, Micron actively supported the expansion of the industry’s nonbattery cobalt reporting program. We have investigated all potential cobalt usage within our entire supply chain and will report cobalt as applicable when the RMI’s industry program is launched in late 2019.
To help Micron achieve our responsible mineral policy objectives, we require suppliers to comply with our responsible mineral programs. Supplier compliance includes:
Put simply, Micron ensures that our existing suppliers rely only on smelters and refiners that are conflict-free, and we only engage with new suppliers that can demonstrate the same. We maintain a 13-week cycle time for suppliers to make changes when they fall out of approved status and often resolve issues sooner. In 2018, our average time to have a nonconformant smelter removed from our supply chain was 4.25 weeks, much sooner than our 13-week target.
We are committed to transparency and report publicly on our due diligence and progress toward a conflict-free supply chain. To learn more, read our annual Conflict Minerals Report.