On World Water Day, Apple and the International Alliance for Sustainable Water Management announced that they would continue their long-term cooperation, continue to invest in industries in China and around the world, and commit to the efficient and safe use of water resources. Over the past year, the number of affiliate certifications obtained by Apple’s supply chain has accelerated, from five in the same period in 2019.
World Water Day is an annual United Nations observance day held on March 22. It highlights the importance of fresh water. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
The International Alliance for Sustainable Water Management is a global organization dedicated to promoting cooperation between enterprises, governments and non-governmental organizations to encourage the adoption of common system standards for sustainable water use. The organization certifies sites through a comprehensive assessment by independent auditors to confirm their compliance with the Alliance international standards, the global benchmark for responsible water resources management. In 2019, three Apple supply chain companies became the first electronics company in the world to obtain their platinum-level certification.
“We are pleased to see more and more Apple supply chain companies participating in our certification programs, which highlights the impact and strength of our partnership with Apple to promote first-class water resources management,” said Xu Yu, Regional Program Director for Asia Pacific, Sustainable Water Management Alliance, in a press release. Real water resources management requires collaboration and leadership. Apple’s constantly improving standards for itself and supply chain businesses set an example for the entire industry.”
In 2018, Apple established a multi-year partnership with the Alliance to take the environmental sustainability of global business to a new level. This enhanced the alliance’s interaction with manufacturing companies in the electronics industry while expanding the coverage of its rigorous certification programs.
“We firmly believe in the power of lead by example and strive to inspire enterprises in China and beyond to push their supply chains into water resources management,” said Ge Yue, vice president of Apple and managing director of Greater China. We would like to congratulate the supply chain enterprises that have recently been certified by the International Alliance for Sustainable Water Management, but we will never stop there. Together, we will continue to work together to create a new positive impact in the communities we operate to protect more of this valuable shared resource.”
In 2018, Apple’s partnership with the Alliance reached an important milestone: Chunhua Technology, an Apple flexible circuit board supplier in Kunshan, became the first enterprise in the electronics industry to obtain Alliance Gold certification. Since then, the partnership has led to another public-private cooperation in Kunshan waters: the alliance has worked with Apple supply chain companies, local government officials and the WWF China representative office to promote the progress of water resources management in the region. A large number of electronic equipment manufacturers are concentrated near the important waters of Kunshan City, and it has become the region with the largest number of alliance certification sites in the world.
In China, Apple has cooperated with the alliance to create digital tools, deploy online training resources on the alliance certification process, and increase support for enterprises that have entered the certification process, thus raising awareness of water resources management throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Apple’s teams will proactively train and communicate with supply chain enterprises to better understand their water use and stimulate their interest in implementing best practices in water resources management.
Apple’s partnership with the Alliance builds on Apple’s Clean Water Project, a water conservation program. The project saved a total of 156.3 million cubic meters (41.3 billion gallons) of freshwater resources in 2020. This is an example Apple has set for other companies to promote green manufacturing. It is also part of Apple’s goal of achieving 100% carbon neutrality by 2030 throughout the supply chain and product life cycle.
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