February 2022

At Corning, corporate social responsibility is a proactive commitment to preserving the trust of our stakeholders. This commitment contributes to sustainable economic and environmental development through all our business activities – how we operate, what we sell, how we give, and how we support our people, the communities in which we operate, and society at large. It is also a demonstration of how we live our Values which represent the unchanging moral and ethical compass that guides everything we do.

As part of our commitment to corporate social responsibility, Corning is committed to the responsible sourcing of minerals – sourcing done in an ethical and sustainable manner that safeguards the human rights of everyone in our global supply chain and preserves the environment.  Any connection between the materials used in Corning products and armed violence or human rights abuses is unacceptable.  

Corning requires our suppliers to comply with our requests to provide complete and accurate information about minerals supplied to Corning, and to perform further due diligence as required about the source of any minerals in their products which are provided to us in order to ensure alignment throughout the supply chain.  Failure to provide this information to Corning when requested may result in removal from active status as a Corning supplier.

We also require our suppliers to extend these expectations to their own suppliers.  Suppliers are required to include provisions equivalent to Corning’s Supplier Code of Conduct, which include a commitment to responsible minerals sourcing and prohibition of forced labor, in their supply chain agreements and to flowdown the same requirements throughout their supply chains.  See our Supplier Code of Conduct here.

The term “conflict minerals” refers to the mineral precursors of the metals tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold (also known as “3TG”), which are found in small amounts in virtually all electronic products. Revenue from mining these minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and nine neighboring countries has been linked to funding for groups engaged in extreme violence and human rights atrocities.

Pursuant to the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,  public companies in the US that make products for which 3TG metals are necessary to the functionality or production of those products are required to assess their supply chains and report on the source of these materials. Corning is a public company, and therefore is committed to complying with this law.

The 3TG supply chain is complex, typically including many stages between Corning and the smelters that purchase and process the ore into metals.  The greatest risk of conflict minerals entering our supply chain is through these smelters’ ore purchasing practices. We require our suppliers to source 3TG for Corning products only from smelters that comply with the Responsible Minerals Initiative 's (RMI, formerly the Conflict Free Sourcing Initiative) Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP, formerly the Conflict-Free Smelter Program), which requires a third-party sourcing audit. To monitor 3TG suppliers’ performance, we assess their responses to the RMI’s Conflict Minerals Reporting Template, and request corrective action where needed, including the removal from our supply chain of smelters that pose a risk.  More information about the Responsible Minerals Initiative can be found here. Our due diligence measures implemented as part of our conflict minerals program have been designed to conform, in all material respects, with the framework in The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas. 

In 2020, in recognition of growing concerns about the risk of child labor and additional human rights violations beyond the scope of the 3TG minerals, Corning broadened its due diligence program to cover all minerals and affected areas in our supply chain.  Our responsible minerals sourcing program – which covers all minerals, as well as suppliers and smelters/refiners previously or currently certified as “conflict free” and non-certified suppliers and smelters/refiners on their journey towards certification – is based on three key steps to identify and respond to risks in the minerals supply chain.  As part of these efforts, we have become members of The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) and the Responsible Minerals Initiative, enabling us to expand our industry collaborative efforts through these memberships; to utilize RMI’s flagship Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP) through our supply chain; and to leverage resources, such as RMI’s eLearning Academy, to improve our ability to support and build the capacity of our suppliers and smelters/refiners in their risk assessment and due diligence efforts.

To review Corning’s previous conflict minerals reports to the SEC, please see the SEC Filings page on Corning’s website. To contact Corning questions, see our Contact Us information. 

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