Apple Blasted For Alleged Pollution by Suppliers

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Apple is under fire again, this time from Chinese environmental activists, that say the company is polluting and endangering public safety by discharging heavy metals and other toxins. The bright side is that it is much easier to keep track of employees that glow in the dark. :D

In a report issued Wednesday, a group of nongovernmental organizations accused the technology giant of violating its own corporate responsibility standards by using suppliers it said its investigations found are violating the law and endangering public health by discharging heavy metals and other toxins. Responding to the report, Apple said Thursday that it was committed to "driving the highest standards of social responsibility" in its supply chain.
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Chinese activists, going after Apple, who is simply contracting CHINESE companies to do stuff. Hilarious. What Chinese companies do in China is NOT Apples business, period. Take it up with the Chinese government. Oh wait, they will tell you to pound sand.

So instead, go after the favorite whipping boy, apple.
 
Who do you think puts environmentalism as part of their marketing campaign? Granted some other companies try to do the same, but nowhere near as much as apple.

The higher the pedestal you put yourself on, the further you fall.
 
Monkey God said:
Chinese activists, going after Apple, who is simply contracting CHINESE companies to do stuff. Hilarious. What Chinese companies do in China is NOT Apples business, period. Take it up with the Chinese government. Oh wait, they will tell you to pound sand.

So instead, go after the favorite whipping boy, apple.
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I disagree and not out of any hate for apple.

Apple tries to push this image of being environmentally friendly among other things. This is a big deal for them. For them not to be checking on their suppliers that they are upholding their image standards is hypocritical at best and downright deception to their consumers at worst. So either they are being called out on it. So they have to prove that they are actually as environmentally friendly as they claim, or that their only concern is saving every cent they can.

This does apply to nearly any manufacturer that ships their production overseas. The main reason they do so is for the cost savings. One of the main reasons for the cost savings is the lack of environmental standards among other things that they are forced to regulate here in the US. I think more than just environmental groups need to start holding these companies to the same standards as over here.
 
Forcing companies to backup their marketing claims? You think Apple is the only guilty of marketing bullshit? 99% of ALL marketing by EVERY company is bullshit.
 
Now wait a damned minute here.

Apple (and other companies) are customers of these big Chinese Manufacturing plants.

If the Chinese want to be pissed, they need to be pissed at themselves and their OWN people for being the one's causing the problem.

You know, they keep shit like this up and people just might start to pull out of that country for their manufacturing. I'm sure Mexico or a ton of other countries would love to step in...
 
TechLarry said:
Now wait a damned minute here.

Apple (and other companies) are customers of these big Chinese Manufacturing plants.

If the Chinese want to be pissed, they need to be pissed at themselves and their OWN people for being the one's causing the problem.

You know, they keep shit like this up and people just might start to pull out of that country for their manufacturing. I'm sure Mexico or a ton of other countries would love to step in...
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don't let reason and logic get in the way. letz h8 on appl
 
Chinese companies pollute, Apple pays for it. I don't like to defend Apple that often, but come on.
 
TechLarry said:
Now wait a damned minute here.

Apple (and other companies) are customers of these big Chinese Manufacturing plants.

If the Chinese want to be pissed, they need to be pissed at themselves and their OWN people for being the one's causing the problem.

You know, they keep shit like this up and people just might start to pull out of that country for their manufacturing. I'm sure Mexico or a ton of other countries would love to step in...
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What? So if I hire a contractor to renovate my house, and I know that he is just going to dump all of the old materials into my neighbors lawn, I'm totally blameless in the matter? Interesting.

You all seem to forget that Apple is in the driver's seat in this relationship, not the other way around.
 
TwistedAegis said:
What? So if I hire a contractor to renovate my house, and I know that he is just going to dump all of the old materials into my neighbors lawn, I'm totally blameless in the matter? Interesting.

You all seem to forget that Apple is in the driver's seat in this relationship, not the other way around.
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your analogy fails.
One: The neighbor is the Chinese government, and they don't actually give a shit about the garbage (the real issue here)

Two: Apple IS NOT in the drivers seat, the Chinese government is, as with all things that happen in China.
 
Apple: the company of slave labor and pollution.

But, it's in China, so you can be a good American liberal Applehead.
 
TwistedAegis said:
What? So if I hire a contractor to renovate my house, and I know that he is just going to dump all of the old materials into my neighbors lawn, I'm totally blameless in the matter? Interesting.

You all seem to forget that Apple is in the driver's seat in this relationship, not the other way around.
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Apple doesn't dictate domestic policy in China. Though, they can chose which manufacturer they want to use.
 
Monkey God said:
your analogy fails.
One: The neighbor is the Chinese government, and they don't actually give a shit about the garbage (the real issue here)

Two: Apple IS NOT in the drivers seat, the Chinese government is, as with all things that happen in China.
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Yes, they are, as Apple chooses who to contract with. The Chinese government isn't threating to invade Apple if they didn't choose Foxconn.
 
TwistedAegis said:
What? So if I hire a contractor to renovate my house, and I know that he is just going to dump all of the old materials into my neighbors lawn, I'm totally blameless in the matter? Interesting.

You all seem to forget that Apple is in the driver's seat in this relationship, not the other way around.
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So by that logic you're (and probably just about everyone commenting as well) also to blame. You purchased an MSi motherboard (according to your signature), who has contracts with Foxconn.

correct?
 
Monkey God said:
Chinese activists, going after Apple, who is simply contracting CHINESE companies to do stuff. Hilarious. What Chinese companies do in China is NOT Apples business, period. Take it up with the Chinese government. Oh wait, they will tell you to pound sand.

So instead, go after the favorite whipping boy, apple.
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It would be Apple's business if say the EPA, FDA, and any other alphabet agency decides that the materials used by their chinese vendors violate some regulation and those said chinese activists press the issue here in the US.
 
dr.stevil said:
So by that logic you're (and probably just about everyone commenting as well) also to blame. You purchased an MSi motherboard (according to your signature), who has contracts with Foxconn.

correct?
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Yes, that's correct.
 
To explain further: Should I care? Yeah, I think so. But do I? I have to be honest, at this moment it is an extremely low concern to me. But to try and deny that my money, given willingly and knowing full well the side effects, contributes to this is to be dishonest with oneself.
 
TwistedAegis said:
Yes, that's correct.
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Pot-calling-the-kettle-black-734818.jpg


:p
 
TwistedAegis said:
To explain further: Should I care? Yeah, I think so. But do I? I have to be honest, at this moment it is an extremely low concern to me. But to try and deny that my money, given willingly and knowing full well the side effects, contributes to this is to be dishonest with oneself.
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I hear you. However, you're also putting dinner of those workers dinner plates too (so it's not all bad). If China wants to impose environmental restrictions, they're the only ones with the real power to do so (and will probably drive business out of their country as a result). The real blame belongs firmly on the shoulders of their government.... not Foxconns customers.
 
dr.stevil said:
I hear you. However, you're also putting dinner of those workers dinner plates too (so it's not all bad). If China wants to impose environmental restrictions, they're the only ones with the real power to do so (and will probably drive business out of their country as a result). The real blame belongs firmly on the shoulders of their government.... not Foxconns customers.
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Right, it's a double edged sword. Is a lot of the work there exploitative? Absolutely. On the other hand, is it better paid than anything else they could get? Also yes.

I see the Chinese people attempting to keep their country from getting polluted. I find it hilarious that so many people, who are probably very much pro-small government, stating it should be the government's duty to MAKE Apple be clean, instead of the citizens of a country trying to hold a business accountable. It's like you can't win - try to go to the company directly, and instead be told to go to the government. Go to the government to try and get Apple to stop polluting, and be called a meddling socialist. :rolleyes:
 
Well, the way I see it is that if Apple wants to claim environmentally friendliness they have to at least consider the fact that going with cut rate labor prices by outsourcing production to a country like China has a much higher chance of things like this happening. That's like saying that you can't be mad at Nike for their factories having sweat shop labor - well what the heck do you think is going to happen when you move production to a place like that?
 
TwistedAegis said:
Right, it's a double edged sword. Is a lot of the work there exploitative? Absolutely. On the other hand, is it better paid than anything else they could get? Also yes.

I see the Chinese people attempting to keep their country from getting polluted. I find it hilarious that so many people, who are probably very much pro-small government, stating it should be the government's duty to MAKE Apple be clean, instead of the citizens of a country trying to hold a business accountable. It's like you can't win - try to go to the company directly, and instead be told to go to the government. Go to the government to try and get Apple to stop polluting, and be called a meddling socialist. :rolleyes:
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Politicis has nothing to do with it. China's government (not the US, UK, FR, etc) regulates all things inside China... they're the only ones with the power to force companies to not pollute, but they don't.
 
dr.stevil said:
Politicis has nothing to do with it. China's government (not the US, UK, FR, etc) regulates all things inside China... they're the only ones with the power to force companies to not pollute, but they don't.
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I understand that; I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm surprised posters here negatively view people trying to express their protest to a company contributing to the pollution of their company. I thought if a market was purely free, this was the type of action that would keep big business in check, and why regulation wasn't needed.
 
TwistedAegis said:
I understand that; I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm surprised posters here negatively view people trying to express their protest to a company contributing to the pollution of their company. I thought if a market was purely free, this was the type of action that would keep big business in check, and why regulation wasn't needed.
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Some regulation is always needed. Anarchy doesn't work very well
 
That is the biggest bullshit response I've seen in a while. People know what goes on in Chinese manufacturing plants, specifically those plants that manufacture for Apple. For Apple to blatently claim that it upholds high standards for worker safety, environmental concern, etc., is a load of horse shit. Yeah maybe they do for their office buildings.

I'm sure the fine print states something along the lines of "third party manufacturers that we purchase parts from do not constitute supply chain members, and henceforth, are not required to maintain the standards setforth in so and so policy #86,492 sec a, article 9.1.4.3 footnote 4"

I hate that China has no standards for their own people. It's a shame that our economy is so heavily reliant on Chinese goods because their cheap, and that we are so afraid to create incentive to bring manufacturing back to the States.
 
TwistedAegis said:
What? So if I hire a contractor to renovate my house, and I know that he is just going to dump all of the old materials into my neighbors lawn, I'm totally blameless in the matter?
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Well, if the contractor that you hired happens to BE your neighbor, and he's the one that talked you into letting him do it because he swore to you he could do it cheaper but still safely - it diminishes his right to complain afterwards.

Basically - do you think the Chinese parts suppliers for Apple actually pollute more than the same parts suppliers for any number of other products (or heck, even Apple counterfeit items)? Why is it they single out American companies and you don't hear about them complaining about their native companies actions? Wouldn't surprise me if one day we didn't find out that this whole thing is really just a propaganda campaign of the Chinese government trying to get its citizens to start buying more Chinese designed products instead of wanting 'Western' products like Apple products.
 
Ualdayan said:
Well, if the contractor that you hired happens to BE your neighbor, and he's the one that talked you into letting him do it because he swore to you he could do it cheaper but still safely - it diminishes his right to complain afterwards.

Basically - do you think the Chinese parts suppliers for Apple actually pollute more than the same parts suppliers for any number of other products (or heck, even Apple counterfeit items)? Why is it they single out American companies and you don't hear about them complaining about their native companies actions? Wouldn't surprise me if one day we didn't find out that this whole thing is really just a propaganda campaign of the Chinese government trying to get its citizens to start buying more Chinese designed products instead of wanting 'Western' products like Apple products.
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If China was a democracy, perhaps. But these people aren't represented by their gov't.

They do complain about their native companies polluting, but you don't hear about it because it isn't newsworthy out here. And even if not, what do you think you are more likely to have a chance of changing - communist state-backed enterprise, or hippy-image projecting Apple based out of the US? Not everything has to be all or nothing - you work towards your desired ends via small steps.
 
imo this has more to do with Apple just being high and mighty, always looking out for the enviroment and its customers etc etc etc, and the back-lash of finding out Apple is just as full of shit as all the other companies. Other companies have enviromental marketing too... guess its is a bit of Apple's stigma.

Fact is Apple has NO problem dictating demands from its partners, especially on the front end. Sales training, add placement, product placement in the actual stores are all conditions Apple has no problem demanding to do business with them. I am sure they have VERY strict contracts to keep their supply chain secret to garner that elusive iphone news/rumors right up to release, so they also have NOT problem dictating Chineses contracts either.

Yet for some reason Apple doesn't seem to have the same vigor when it comes to supporting their own "enviromental" marketing and policies.

Whether China has laws or not makes no difference, Apple could put in contract "waste" will be handled any way it wants (obviously as long as it isn't against laws). They do this for sales of their product, but not manufactoring?????
 
Dekoth-E- said:
For them not to be checking on their suppliers that they are upholding their image standards is hypocritical at best and downright deception to their consumers at worst. So either they are being called out on it. So they have to prove that they are actually as environmentally friendly as they claim, or that their only concern is saving every cent they can.
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The key word here is hypocritical, as Apple pretends to be something that are not.
They are just another greedy company that only cares about thier high profits.

If this was Microsoft or HP, the same people defending Apple whould be blasting them.
 
Are the environmentalists shutting down all the ports in China to keep all the rest of the worlds computer wastes from entering or is this a selective thing thats happening.The Chinese just have to pass some strict environmental laws and a bullet to the head if you pollute. That would take care of things. They shoot or imprison people for less things then polluting.
 
I'm not sure I can find myself surprised that the "largest" for profit tech company is hypocritical.
 
Monkey God said:
Chinese activists, going after Apple, who is simply contracting CHINESE companies to do stuff. Hilarious. What Chinese companies do in China is NOT Apples business, period. Take it up with the Chinese government. Oh wait, they will tell you to pound sand.

So instead, go after the favorite whipping boy, apple.
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This crApple fanboy need to STFU seriously. Do you even have a brain or think before you post?
 
LeninGHOLA said:
What do you mean? Can't Chinese companies be responsible for themselves a little bit too?
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Why should the government baby sit every company responsibilities? Apple is doing this because they know the Chinese government probably aren't too strict about this so they are getting away with this. They are known for cutting shortcuts and using cheap hazardous materials.
 
ASIA911 said:
Why should the government baby sit every company responsibilities? Apple is doing this because they know the Chinese government probably aren't too strict about this so they are getting away with this. They are known for cutting shortcuts and using cheap hazardous materials.
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Wait, so Apple should get their neck stepped on by our government because you think China's government shouldn't meddle with their companies? :confused:

Sounds like you're just mad because it's Apple.
 
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