Environmental group accuses Apple and Samsung of exploiting child labor

Environmental group accuses Apple and Samsung of exploiting child labor

If Friends of the Earth, an international environmental group, is to believed, both Apple and Samsung are both engaging tin mining suppliers that use child labor in their operations.

Furthermore, the unregulated tin mining in Bangka, an Indonesian island, may possibly cause "extensive environmental damage to tropical forests and coral reefs".

Tin is used in smartphones such as the Galaxy S4 or the iPhone 5 and tablets such as the iPad as a soldering material.

According to the Korea Herald report, Samsung has admitted to using tin from the area, and will be looking to address the issue.

The chaebol claimed that while it did not have a direct relationship with the tin suppliers, it acknowledged that some of the tin it uses in manufacturing comes from the island.


Apple did not respond to the environmental group's report.