13-02-2010 CNET: Effort to trace 'conflict minerals' in electronics - mentions HP

Excerpt from the CNET news item:

Hewlett-Packard's efforts to be more socially and environmentally sustainable have taken it to an unexpected--and uncomfortable--place: the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo.

Concerned that purchases of metals could be financing armed conflict in the West African country, HP and a handful of other companies are turning their attention to its suppliers of metals, including tin, gold, tantalum, and tungsten, which are used in everyday computing products and mobile phones.

At HP, it's an extension of an initiative that started over a decade ago to ensure that supply chain partners adhere to certain environmental and social standards. The near-term objective is to not purchase metals tied to armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but there's a longer-term goal of certifying the source for minerals of all kinds, according to Zoe McMahon, HP's manager of supply chain social and environmental responsibility. 

...

The push toward "traceability" in the metals extraction is an outgrowth of HP's practices of auditing its supply chain partners to make sure they do not contribute to human rights and environmental violations, said McMahon. By auditing its suppliers, HP reduces its chances of bad publicity or seeks to avoid other business risks. Other IT-related companies that have worked on the DRC conflict minerals issue include Intel, Motorola, Dell, and Philips, she added.

At this point, local groups don't advocate that metals purchasers stop buying from Africa or the DRC. On the contrary, the goal is to establish a "clean stream" of metals and promote environmentally and socially responsible mining practices there, said McMahon.