Pollution in sportsware and electronics supply chains, and why electric cars are still over-priced
Sports brands cut hazardous chemicals
Sportswear giants Puma, Nike and Adidas have bowed to pressure from Greenpeace and committed to eliminate the use and release of hazardous chemicals across their supply chains and products by 2020.
Greenpeace published two Dirty Laundry reports this summer. The first analysed two textile-processing facilities in China that supply brands including Nike, H&M, Gap and Adidas, and found that hazardous chemicals were being discharged from the factories daily.
The second report revealed that 52 of 78 clothing items tested from 14 major brands (including Adidas, Calvin Klein, Converse, H&M, Lacoste, Nike, Puma, and Ralph Lauren) contained nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), which break down into toxic nonylphenol (NP).
Typically, NPEs are expelled into rivers during manufacturing, and once the items reach consumers and are washed, NPEs are released into the local water systems and cannot be fully treated by water facilities, creating another source of toxic NPs.
Nike, Puma, Adidas, Bauer Hockey, Converse, Cortefiel and H&M reported to Greenpeace that they do not use the Chinese suppliers’ “wet processes”, which are a source of these harmful NPE discharges. But Greenpeace says that regardless of how the companies use these facilities, they have a business relationship with the suppliers and need comprehensive chemical management policies.
“These brands need to take responsibility for the use and release of persistent, hormone-disrupting chemicals into our critical and life sustaining waterways, in both textile-producing countries and in the countries where their products are ultimately sold,” says the Dirty Laundry 2 report.
Puma and Nike were the first to commit to zero chemical discharge in July, while Adidas followed suit in late August.
According to Greenpeace toxics campaigner Li Yifang, all three companies are demonstrating industry leadership by agreeing to disclose comprehensive implementation plans within the next two months. Nike and Adidas also pledged to share their “use and discharge” information, and Adidas has started working with other brands to create an industry-wide commitment to detoxing the textile supply chain.
Low-carbon vehicles too pricey
If you’re hoping to save some cash by buying an electric car, you might have to wait till 2030.
The news comes from a study by consultancy Element Energy for the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, a group of 200 organisations promoting low-carbon vehicles and fuels in the UK.
The study revealed that the total cost of owning an electric car will drop significantly with the advancement of lower carbon technologies, when batteries and fuel cells become more affordable and fuel costs for ultra-low carbon cars dip lower than petrol.
Currently, low carbon cars in the UK cost about £5,000 more than conventional vehicles, but by 2030 that number should drop to £500-£750. And with the addition of £1,000-£2,000 in tax breaks, the overall cost should net out in favour of green driving. But you’ll have to be patient, as it will take until then for the technology to be sufficiently developed and be widely adopted.
Chinese NGOs cry ‘bad Apple’
Five Chinese NGOs have published a report accusing Apple of widespread pollution via its alleged Chinese suppliers.
Like most IT companies, Apple is tight-lipped about its suppliers. But five months of research by the NGOs pointed to seven suspected Chinese suppliers that are committing serious environmental violations.
For example: the Meiko Electronics plant in Guangzhou was penalised for 10 violations in the span of a few months; water discharge from the Meiko Electronics PCB plant in Wuhan contained dangerous levels of heavy metals that threaten the environment and public health; and Foxconn Electronics in Tiayuan has repeatedly been asked to control its pollutant discharge, which is affecting local residents’ health.
The report says that while other IT brands including Siemens, Vodafone and Nokia have improved supply chain management, “even when faced with specific allegations regarding its suppliers, [Apple] refuses to provide answers and continues to state that ‘it is our long-term policy not to disclose supplier information’”.
Apple has, however, agreed to address the accusations with the NGOs, and has said some of the factories named were not, in fact, Apple suppliers.
The report follows an earlier study that also addressed pollution concerns with Chinese suppliers, as well as the string of Foxconn employee suicides in May 2010, and worker chemical poisonings in February 2011 at another Chinese plant.