Apple and a Chinese environmental group will jointly audit one of the company’s supplier factories in China for the first time, reports the “IDG News Service” (http://macte.ch/P4ibT).
The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), a group based in Beijing, said on Monday Apple agreed to the joint audit, which will be carried out at the end of this month at a manufacturer of printed circuit boards. IPE will be working with Apple and an auditing firm hired to investigate the supplier’s pollution controls, said Wang Jing Jing, vice director for the Chinese environmental group. The results will later be made available online by IPE, reports the “IDG News Service.”
The audits come as Apple faces mounting criticism about toxic pollution and factory injuries at overseas suppliers’ factories. Ma Jun, the founder of The Institute of Environmental and Public Affairs, said Apple agreed to the independent audits late last month in response to two reports that the institute and other environmental groups released last year documenting hazardous waste leaks and the use of toxic chemicals at suspected Apple suppliers.