Fairphone was started in The Netherlands in 2013 with the mission to raise awareness around sustainability in the manufacturing and supply chain of mobile phones and with goals around social benefit rather than economic success.
Joost den Hartog joined Fairphone just half a year ago, searching for a place where he could do a difference in sustainability. Today he is responsible for B2B Sales for the Nordic region and Netherlands.
After several years in companies with traditional business strategies I felt I was missing a meaning. I wanted to find a business with a bigger mission than the business of just making money.
One of Fairphone's goals is to make people use their phone longer, give the phone better life. They were the first vendor in the world to manufacture modular phones where the user can replace consumable parts on the phone such as battery and screen. Today they have the Fairphone 4, a sustainable long-lasting smartphone with 5G speed, 5-year warranty and future-proof specs.
While Fairphone 3 was for the users who were willing to compromise to make a difference, Fairphone 4 is a smartphone with all modern and future features where you pay a little more but get a really good phone that lasts longer.
As much as 75% of a mobile phone environmental footprint comes from the supply chain, by making phones that last longer the industry can lower that footprint. We can see now that other vendors are following Fairphones’ idea and most recently Nokia released a repairable phone. This is something that Fairphone welcomes, they are not afraid of competition but see it as one of the most important things to inspire others.
We are glad to see that more vendors are focusing on longevity and that trends in the EU shows a demand for longer lifetime. There are highly likely also legislations and rules coming. But to make a real change, we need to continue showing people the effects of the supply chain on climate and show the possibilities to take an alternative decision.
Fairphone 4 comes with a 5-year warranty including software updates, and it was just recently that they stopped supporting Fairphone 2 that was released 7 years ago. The focus for 2023 is to continue showing the world what they are doing, how the supply chain can get more sustainable and ethical, and how the industry can extend the longevity.
Circularity, repair and reuse is good, but refuse is even better. The most sustainable phone is the phone you already have.
Find out more about Fairphone or go directly to Fairphone in our webshop.
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