In the wake of the recent Washingtion Post report that denounced a solar panel Chinese supplier dumping toxic waste in a village, the Solar Energy Industries Association has released a damage control statement. “This story was the first we had heard of this practice, which violates both our association’s professional code of conduct and the very spirit of what we’re trying to do as an industry. We are out to solve environmental problems, not create them”, said Rhone Resch, the organization’s president.
Resch continues: “The solar industry, now the largest customer of polysilicon, finds such irresponsible practices to be unacceptable and a violation of our code of conduct. Although not reported in the story, Suntech and the rest of the PV manufacturers require in writing that their suppliers recycle their waste or dispose of it safely. The reports of this factory’s behavior fall far outside acceptable industry manufacturing standards and will not be tolerated.”
It sounds very nice, but is requiring ‘in writing’ enough to make sure that a company on the other side of the world complies with safety rules? Isn’t inspection by an independent professional on site the best way to monitor codes of conduct? I would have thought so.
