Electronics Supply Networks and Water Pollution in China

This report from BSR looks at the Chinese supply chains of 10 electronics manufacturers and offers tips for companies that want to get a grasp on how their suppliers are impacting the environment overseas.

The report, Electronics Supply Networks and Water Pollution in China, looks at the results of a supplier risk assessment conducted by 10 members of the EICC. The companies provided information about 640 suppliers to BSR, and the group checked those names against a public database of environmental violations.

About 5 percent of the suppliers had environmental violations, with 20 percent of those companies having been penalized for multiple violations in recent years. One facility had been cited four times, all about its wastewater discharge, a warning that there are systemic problems with some suppliers.

Among the recommendations offered in the report are the following ways for a company to begin scrutinizing the environmental impacts of its supply chain:

1. Suppliers that are the most “strategic” in terms of spending and importance to business. Importance to business may be higher for suppliers that produce components or products that generate the greatest revenues or profits for the company, and/or are used extensively for less tangible but equally important purposes, such as for branding;

2. Suppliers that have already been identified by the public, media, or NGO community as responsible for previous environmental offenses;

3. Suppliers known to have poor quality management or reporting systems; or

4. Suppliers that are financially unstable, maintain poor external relationships, or have a history of labor or environmental issues, ownership changes, and workforce disruptions.

The full report, “Electronics Supply Networks and Water Pollution in China,” [PDF] is available for download from BSR.