Annually, Apple publishes its Supplier Responsibility Report, a document designed to audit and report to its shareholders and consumers about the company’s relations with its partners taking into account aspects such as labor relations and the environment. The most recent edition of the report was released today and the good news is that, in almost all points analyzed, Apple suppliers are evolving.
For example: throughout 2018, Apple recorded 27 serious violations of its labor relations policy, a reasonable decrease from 44 cases recorded in 2017. Of these 27 records, 24 refer to counterfeit hourly cases, while others 2 represent cases of forced labor. Only one case of child labor was registered (and solved), and none of the suppliers had incidents of unhealthy work or safety violations.
More than that: at the end of 2018, approximately 17.3 million employees of Apple suppliers had already received training on labor rights, while more than 3.6 million also received advanced education training and specific skills related to their activities. . Over the past year, 1,500 employees have graduated from universities.
Regarding the environment, Apple’s suppliers managed to reduce emissions of harmful gases to the atmosphere by more than 466 thousand tons – the equivalent of taking 100 thousand cars off the streets for a year. In addition, with the program Zero Waste to Landfill, Apple’s partners managed to reduce the production of garbage and waste by almost 1 million tons; the company’s water-saving program, in turn, expanded to 116 suppliers, resulting in savings of nearly 28 billion liters of water.
Employees of Apple vendors on Apple educational programApple’s data survey covers more than 93% of its suppliers around the world; there are more than 770 assemblers and partners in 30 countries, in addition to 279 mining companies and ore refineries. Apple Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jeff Williams shared a few words about the newest report:
We are constantly increasing the demands on ourselves and our suppliers, because we are committed to the people who make our products possible, as well as to the planet we all share. Our goal has always been to not only stimulate progress in our supply chain, but also to encourage significant changes across the industry.
Well, keep it up.
via 9to5Mac