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"With investigations into the conditions of the labourers that build its products underway already, Apple now looks to have turned its attention to addressing the environmental issues within its supply chain in China.\r\n\r\nMa Jun, who is the founder of the Institute of Public &amp;amp;amp; Environmental Affairs,\u00A0told USA Today\u00A0that\u00A0the firm has commissioned independent environmental reviews of at least two of its partner's factories in China,\u00A0which will be entirely separate to ongoing probes carried out by the Fair Labor Association (FLA).\r\n\r\nThe reviews, which are said to have been agreed to last month, could begin as early as March and will focus on assessing the environmental impact of facilities that belong to Foxconn and one other unnamed firm. However, it is thought that the investigation may be expanded to cover more of its partners' factories.\r\n\r\nThe move is a direct result of a meeting that took place\u00A0between Apple and its suppliers in China last year, following a series of environmental issues that took were found at a number of plants. Notebook casing supplier Catcher Technology\u00A0was forced to close\u00A0one\u00A0facility over environmental concerns, while iPhone supplier Pegatron was\u00A0fined for spewing harmful gases\u00A0during the manufacture of products.\r\n\r\nAnother activist,\u00A0Linda Greer, of the National Resources Defense Council's health program, revealed that Apple would grant the investigators access to the factories, in order that they can focus on specific issues, which include concerns that toxic waste is being discharged into the water supply and soil.\r\n\r\nApple seems to be treating the situation with the serious approach it warrants, as\u00A0Ma revealed that his organisation has held a number of meetings and phone calls with Apple executives since the September meet-up.\r\n\r\nNews of the upcoming investigation comes as the FLA has beguns revealing its feedback from its investigation.\u00A0Initial comments were positive, according to the\u00A0non-profit that investigates working conditions for laborers around the world, which said that the conditions are above average. However,\u00A0it has since changed its stance\u00A0and said\u00A0that there are &amp;quot;a tonne of issues&amp;quot; to be fixed there.\r\n\r\nApple increased the number of audits of its troublesome Asian supply chain to 229 last year, that's 80 percent more than it ran in 2009, and the company is making efforts to bring its workings in China up to the required standard.\r\n\r\nCEO Tim Cook has been under increased pressure about its workings in China following\u00A0two New York Times articles,\u00A0How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work\u00A0and\u00A0In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad, both of which paint a grim picture of the lives of workers that build the company's products.\r\n\r\nWe've contacted Apple for clarification and will update the article with any response we are given."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/02/21/apple-has-reportedly-commissioned-environmental-reviews-of-its-suppliers-in-china/>