Apple recently had a meeting with Chinese environmental groups during which it admitted that 15 of the plants it uses in its supply chain violate China’s environmental regulations. The Cupertino-based company has typically ignored any accusations that its plants are over polluting. Apple reportedly made the admission during a three-hour discussion with the EnviroFriends Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Friends of Nature and the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs. Read on for more.
The supply chain companies in question have been accused of excessive emissions and, according to Chinese news source Caixin, have not kept track of wastewater pollution. Unfortunately, Apple didn’t identify which specific companies were polluting, although earlier reports have suggested that Foxconn is among Apple’s suppliers that are guilty of breaking Apple’s “commitment to safe and environmentally-responsible working conditions,” Caixin said. “In the term of information transparency, Apple still has not done enough,” Friends of Nature Secretary-General Li Bo told Caixin.
“What Apple has been doing is positive,” Green Stone Environmental Action Network secretary general Li Chunhua, who participated in the meeting, said. “But we want them to be more open with their supply chain. They didn’t do more in this area.”
According to IDG, the iPhone maker will hire a third-party company to investigate each of its suppliers. Apple has started to clean up its act in other parts of the world; despite earning a failing grade in a recent Greenpeace report, it is working to power its massive North Carolina data center with solar energy.
