Associated PressResidents fearing a paraxylene spill protest a petrochemical plant’s activity in Dalian, China. 
In an article in Thursday’s Times, my colleague Charles Duhigg and I detail the human cost of producing some of the world’s most popular gadgets in an investigation into labor conditions at the plants of some of Apple’s suppliers in China.
But there is also a significant environmental cost. Because of lax enforcement of the nation’s environmental regulations, factories dump and discharge highly toxic substances in local waterways or in ways that could cause significant health problems.
In its own supplier responsibility report, released a few weeks ago, Apple itself said that some suppliers were improperly discharging waste or that the facilities did not have adequate records or systems in place to deal with hazardous materials. It wrote that “112 facilities were not properly storing, moving, or handling hazardous chemicals.”
“For example, some facilities did not provide anti-leakage for hazardous chemicals or provide separate storage for incompatible chemicals,” the report said. It said that that 125 facilities lacked “management
procedures for handling, movement, and storage of hazardous chemicals.”
Apple demands that its suppliers come into compliance or risk losing their contracts with the company.
Last year, a Chinese environmental group released its own study claiming that Apple’s suppliers often discharge pollutants and hazardous chemical into surrounding communities, threatening public health. It said its findings were based on factory visits.
Apple disputed some of the allegations, arguing that some of the factories listed were not suppliers to the company.
Environmental advocacy groups say that while multinational corporations are trying to improve conditions, thousands — or perhaps tens of thousands — of smaller companies working on thin margins are cutting corners and dumping hazardous chemicals in rural areas and even near densely populated areas.
Last year, there were reports of mass poisoning because of lead emissions from battery factories, as detailed by my colleague Sharon LaFraniere in an article published last June.
Why are such dangers so prevalent? Experts say local governments are often more interested in creating jobs and generating economic growth than in enforcing the law. What is more, rising labor costs and inflation are forcing many small- and medium-size factories to reduce costs.
One of the easiest things to do is to cheaply dispose of waste the old-fashioned way — dump it out back.