Before Tim Cook became Apple's CEO, his job was to make sure that all the moving pieces of the company's mssive supply chain functioned smoothly, efficiently, and in the shadows. Apple's supply chain is notoriously opaque, and for good reason; the company thrives on rumors about its next big products, but all that mystique could be taken away if its supply chain was exposed. That's not to say that Apple's suppliers are completely unknown--after Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn experienced a spate of suicides last year, Apple executives publicly visited the factory to figure out how to prevent more people from killing themselves. It was Cook who led this delegation.
Despite its progress in the human rights arena, Apple has a long way to go in improving its suppliers' environmental practices. Even the company's 2011 Supplier Responsibility Report pays little attention to environmental issues. Now that Cook, who is already getting a reputation as being a bit more friendly and open then Steve Jobs (he's already reversed the company's anti-philanthropy stance), has taken over, will the supply chain also become more open? Or will Apple keep churning out iPads at the expense of Chinese lives and the environment? Ma Jun, the Director of China's Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), spoke with Co.Exist at BSR's 2011 conference about the trouble with Apple's suppliers, and how the electronics manufacturer is finally gearing up to make changes.
Ma's interest in the IT supply chain stems from the dozens of heavy metal poisonings that have occurred in China since 2009. Mines, leather producers, and the chemical industry are traditionally the kinds of companies blamed for the poisonings, but the IT industry has recently also come under scrutiny.
In 2010, the IPE teamed up with The Green Beagle and the Friends of Nature to release a series of reports about the IT industry's environmental violations. "At the beginning, not many companies responded. After quite a few months of interaction, Apple really stood out," says Ma. "Many others would at least say okay, I received your letter, and most of them would say we need to check on
. But Apple was totally evasive if not unresponsive."
Secrecy breeds curiosity, however, and many of Apple's suspected suppliers are listed on the IPE's pollution maps, which offers the environmental supervision records of Chinese manufacturers and suppliers as well as data on local levels of water and air pollution. So the organization and a team of partner organizations decided to dig even deeper into Apple's supply chain, first with a report in January 2011, and then with a follow-up in August 2011.
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http://www.fastcoexist.com/1678763/is-tim-cooks-apple-going-to-stop-poisoning-china
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