First a China supplier of MacBook unibody cases was forced to spend millions on pollution cleanup, now an iPhone plant is under scrutiny for noise and gas pollution. Pegatron, just days from an investor conference, announced plans to update equipment and work closely with local residents.
Pegatron, under fire in a Chinese environmental report, is “currently purchasing equipment to eliminate both noise and waste gas released” by one subsidiary also updating equipment and formulating a regular maintenance schedule, industry publication DigiTimes reports Tuesday. Two other Pegatron subsidiaries in China are already improving current equipment and negotiating with residents and the government, according to the report.
More details are expected to be released Oct. 27 when Pegatron meets investors. The company reportedly has received an order from Apple for 10 million iPhone 4S handsets.
A China-based Catcher Technologies factory producing 60 percent of the unibody enclosures for Apple’s popular MacBook latops was forced to temporarily suspend operations. This past weekend, a report suggested the company would spend $2-$3 million updating the facility in order to reopen in November.
Environmentalists in China have condemned Apple’s, claiming it hadn’t acted quickly enough to prevent accidents at its supplier factories. Workers at a Wintek factory were exposed to toxic gas, reports say. In April, the environmental group Greenpeace issued a report slamming Apple’s new iCloud initiative as relying upon “dirty” energy to power its $1 billion data center in North Carolina.
