Tool to track emitters, Apple’s supply chain revealed and Patagonia’s reimagination
Apple releases supplier list
For a company famously secretive about its suppliers and operations, Apple has taken a leap this year and published a list of 156 leading suppliers including Intel, Samsung, Sony and Foxconn, accounting for 97% of what it pays suppliers. The list was unveiled alongside Apple’s 2012 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report.
Apple has come under increasing scrutiny by NGOs regarding its labour conditions and environmental footprint. The 2012 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report addresses these concerns and looks at Apple’s global supply chain, revealing details from 229 audits in 2011 (an 80% increase over 2010).
While there were fewer reported labour violations in 2011 than in 2010, there were some notable issues. These include cases of child labour in five factories; involuntary labour at 17 factories; more than half of workers in 93 factories exceeding a 60-hour maximum work week; 68 factories failing to provide legally mandated health benefits; 69 factories failing to properly recycle or dispose of hazardous waste; and 112 facilities improperly storing, moving or handling hazardous chemicals.
The progress report also outlines remedial steps Apple is taking to address these issues. In instances of abuse, the company works with the supplier and performs a verification audit to ensure the issue is fully resolved. “However, if a supplier’s actions do not meet our demands, Apple will terminate the business relationship,” the report states.
It seems Apple will be continuing down the path of transparency. As the first tech company accepted into the Fair Labour Association (FLA), Apple will allow the FLA’s independent auditing team to assess its suppliers’ performance and publish the results on the FLA’s website. Apple says: “It’s a level of transparency and independent oversight that is unmatched in our industry.”
EPA tool reveals America’s largest emitters
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reached a milestone in its efforts to address climate change with a new greenhouse gas (GHG) tool, making its GHG data on the largest American facilities and suppliers easily accessible and digestible by the public.
The 2010 GHG Reporting Program data covers more than 6,700 facilities and suppliers in nine industry groups, focusing exclusively on the largest US emitters, ie those releasing more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
The tool enables the public to explore GHG data and filter it by location, industry type, facility, and type of GHG emitted. It also allows users to view the data at a national level so they could, for example, get a picture of facilities within a specific emissions range.
“Information in the database can be used by communities to identify nearby sources of greenhouse gas emissions, help businesses track emissions and identify cost- and fuel-saving opportunities, inform policy at the state and local levels, and provide important information to the finance and investment communities,” says the EPA on its database site.
In 2010 power plants were the largest direct emitters, with 2,324m metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (mmtCO2e). Petroleum refineries came in second, with emissions of 183mmtCO2e, followed by chemicals manufacturing (175mmtCO2e).
Carbon dioxide accounted for by far the largest share of direct GHG emissions, at 95%, followed by methane (4%), while nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases made up the remaining 1%.
The tool does not, reflect total US GHG emissions as it only includes facilities covered by the GHG Reporting Program. Agriculture, transportation and land use are not included.
Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, notes that the industries were fully cooperative, and even in the 2,000-odd cases where data needed double-checking, companies participated willingly and did their best to report accurately.
The data and tool will continuously be updated for accuracy and ease of use. The EPA has already opened its 2011 reporting process and will also collect data from 12 new industry groups. The hope is to increase the share of total US emissions accounted for in the tool from 80% to 85-90%.
“Better information will always lead to a better informed public, which will lead to better environmental protection,” says McCarthy.
Google helps combat slavery
As part of Google’s 2011 Gives Back initiative, the search giant donated $11.5m in grants during the end of year holiday season to 10 organisations fighting modern-day slavery and human trafficking.
According to Google, the donation will help free more than 12,000 people from slavery and prevent millions from being enslaved. The recipient organisations include BBC World Service Trust, ActionAid India, Slavery Footprint and the International Justice Mission. It’s believed to be the largest corporate donation to combat slavery.
The Google Gives Back programme also supports three other areas: science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) education; girls’ education (particularly in developing countries); and empowerment through technology. In all, Google’s holiday cheer amounted to $40m in grants.
Novo Nordisk stops using animals for quality control
Danish healthcare company Novo Nordisk has set a precedent in the pharmaceutical industry by halting the use of animals to assess the quality of its marketed products.
The journey towards the ban took more than 10 years. To make its case, Novo Nordisk had to gather ample data to prove to regulatory authorities around the world that many of the required tests were obsolete, and needed to develop new laboratory assays that could replace animal testing.
“Novo Nordisk’s long-term goal to remove animal testing in biological product control is a result of our commitment to actively implement the 3R principles of reduction, replacement and refinement of animal experimentation,” says Novo Nordisk chief science officer Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen. “We have also established internal procedures that ensure that only in vitro assays are to be used in the future for product control to comply with regulatory and quality requirements.”
While there are still legal requirements for new drugs to be tested on animals before human trials, Thomsen says Novo Nordisk is working on a new long-term bioethics strategy that follows its 3R principles to further decrease animal use.
In fact, the company initiated an annual internal 3R Award to encourage employees to find new ways to replace animal testing wherever possible and, consequently, has kept the number of animals used relatively constant over the past decade, despite R&D growth of 15% annually.
Patagonia’s Don’t Buy This Jacket Campaign
In a bold move on “Black Friday”, America’s busiest shopping day, Patagonia invited its customers not to buy its jackets.
The outdoor clothing company placed an ad in the New York Times with the heading “Don’t Buy This Jacket,” stating it wanted to do the very opposite of all other businesses and encourage customers to buy less in the holiday season.
The ad goes on to detail the environmental footprint of one of its popular jackets, which is made of recycled materials and is long-lasting (plus, the company will take it back and recycle it when you’re done), but concludes that there’s still an environmental price to pay to make it.
The campaign serves as part of Patagonia’s Common Threads initiative, which encourages customers to consume consciously by reducing, repairing, reusing, recycling, and reimagining how they purchase.
For those who have called Patagonia hypocritical – the brand is in the business of making and selling its wares – Patagonia replied via its blog. “It’s not hypocrisy for us to address the need to reduce consumption. It’s folly to assume that a healthy economy can be based on buying and selling more and more things people don’t need – and it’s time for people who believe that’s folly to say so.”
Sprint requires green certification on all mobile phones
Starting in January 2012 Sprint, the US’s third largest wireless communications provider, is requiring all its wireless devices to undergo the environmental certification process it spearheaded with UL Environment.
Sprint joined forces with UL Environment, an environmental claims validation specialist, in January 2011, to develop the first third-party, independent certification for sustainable mobile devices that evaluates a device through its lifecycle. In May 2011 Sprint’s Samsung Replenish phone was the first to receive UL Platinum certification, the highest level.
According to Sprint’s vice-president for corporate responsibility Ralph Reid, there are two particularly innovative aspects of the certification, the first being mobile recyclability. “The industry needed a consistent approach for determining the recyclability of the various parts within a mobile phone, [which] helps manufacturers understand where they could focus their efforts to improve the portion of the phone that can actually be constructively reused at end of life,” says Reid.
The second standout requirement is material use. Reid explains that the certification defines criteria around both the good and bad materials used within a mobile device, its accessories and packaging, to ensure safety and sustainability throughout its lifecycle.
“Demand for socially responsible devices is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, and this new standard will provide the basis for the marketplace to identify and select better products with regard to environmental sustainability,” says Stephen Wenc, president of UL Environment.