Supplier Responsibility

Apple has published its 2012 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report which, for the first time, contains a list of 156 suppliers that represent 97 percent of its procurement expenditures for materials, manufacturing, and assembly in 2011. The company has also announced that it will allow an independent third party – a non-profit called the Fair Labor Association (FLA) – to check on working conditions at those factories, and to make its findings public. The FLA already checks on suppliers for other American companies, including Nike, New Balance, and Adidas but Apple is the first technology company on its roster.

Greenpeace has published a new report, Dirty Laundry, that profiles the problem of toxic water pollution resulting from the release of hazardous chemicals by the textile industry in China.