Apple’s 2017 Supplier Responsibility Report ⇥ buzzfeed.com

The 2017 edition of this report (PDF) shows progress in a number of critical areas, with big leaps in compliance shown across a total of 705 audits, over a hundred more than Apple did for their 2016 report.

There’s also a big update on an issue I highlighted last year on the supply of cobalt for many electronic products. Caroline O’Donovan, Buzzfeed:

Apple’s 2017 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report includes another milestone: For the first time, the company has published a complete list of its cobalt smelters. It says all of them are participating in third-party audits.

Apple is effectively treating cobalt like they do the four conflict minerals specified in Dodd-Frank. Of note, the current U.S. administration is reportedly considering suspending rules requiring companies to disclose conflict minerals — a move which would likely be disastrous for those in the DRC.