'Toxic' report names top brands
Source: Agencies |
July 14, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SOME of the world's leading clothing brands rely on Chinese suppliers that pollute rivers with toxic, hormone-disrupting chemicals, environment group Greenpeace said in a report yesterday.
Adidas, Nike, Calvin Klein, Lacoste, Abercrombie and Fitch, and China's Li Ning were among the names identified following an investigation focusing on two major suppliers, the Youngor Textile Complex in Ningbo on the Yangtze River Delta and the Well Dyeing Factory Ltd in the Pearl River Delta near Hong Kong.
The brands mentioned have confirmed they source products from one of the two suppliers, Greenpeace said.
Sabrina Cheung, for Adidas, said the group had investigated the claims, adding that its business relationship with Youngor was restricted to the cutting and sewing of garments. "The Adidas Group does not source fabrics from Youngor Group, which would involve the use of dyestuffs, chemicals and their associated water treatment processes," she said.
Nike confirmed it sourced products from two factories belonging to the Youngor Group but said neither used the chemicals detected by Greenpeace.
Li Ning said: "We have asked them to investigate their pollutant discharge immediately and report back to us."
Greenpeace's Li Yifang said China has yet to implement a systematic chemicals management policy, but responsibility must also lie with global firms.
"None of the corporations mentioned in our report have a comprehensive, publicly available policy that ensures their suppliers are eliminating hazardous chemicals from their supply chain, so we believe they are perpetuating toxic pollution," she said in Beijing.
She said samples taken from wastewater discharges from the two facilities revealed heavy metals as well as hazardous, hormone-disrupting substances such as akylphenols and perfluorinated chemicals, which are restricted across the European Union and the United States.
The chemicals - which can harm immune and endocrinological systems and the liver - cannot be removed by water treatment plants, which is why they have been eliminated elsewhere, Li said.
"We take the problem which Greenpeace raised seriously and we will work with Greenpeace to find a solution," Youngor said in a statement.
Adidas, Nike, Calvin Klein, Lacoste, Abercrombie and Fitch, and China's Li Ning were among the names identified following an investigation focusing on two major suppliers, the Youngor Textile Complex in Ningbo on the Yangtze River Delta and the Well Dyeing Factory Ltd in the Pearl River Delta near Hong Kong.
The brands mentioned have confirmed they source products from one of the two suppliers, Greenpeace said.
Sabrina Cheung, for Adidas, said the group had investigated the claims, adding that its business relationship with Youngor was restricted to the cutting and sewing of garments. "The Adidas Group does not source fabrics from Youngor Group, which would involve the use of dyestuffs, chemicals and their associated water treatment processes," she said.
Nike confirmed it sourced products from two factories belonging to the Youngor Group but said neither used the chemicals detected by Greenpeace.
Li Ning said: "We have asked them to investigate their pollutant discharge immediately and report back to us."
Greenpeace's Li Yifang said China has yet to implement a systematic chemicals management policy, but responsibility must also lie with global firms.
"None of the corporations mentioned in our report have a comprehensive, publicly available policy that ensures their suppliers are eliminating hazardous chemicals from their supply chain, so we believe they are perpetuating toxic pollution," she said in Beijing.
She said samples taken from wastewater discharges from the two facilities revealed heavy metals as well as hazardous, hormone-disrupting substances such as akylphenols and perfluorinated chemicals, which are restricted across the European Union and the United States.
The chemicals - which can harm immune and endocrinological systems and the liver - cannot be removed by water treatment plants, which is why they have been eliminated elsewhere, Li said.
"We take the problem which Greenpeace raised seriously and we will work with Greenpeace to find a solution," Youngor said in a statement.
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