Coach, Disney suspected of using polluting suppliers in China

(ECNS) -- In a report on pollution in the leather industry, three civil organizations on environmental protection in China have voiced concerns that leading brands including Coach and Disney have breached their commitment to green products, caixin.com reported.

The report, jointly issued by the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), the Public Environment Concern Center and the Huaihe River Ecological Environment Science Research Center, said some Chinese polluters are suspected of being suppliers to famed international brands.

Maydiang Group in Changshu City of Jiangsu Province claimed to be a producer for many first-class fashion brands such as Coach. The group's subsidiary in Changshu was fined 100,000 yuan ($15,000) for discharging polluted water through hidden pipelines in 2010. Its branch in Sihong, also in the province, received a yellow-card warning, the second worst in the four-color environmental credit rating system, in 2013.

Atechs Footware, based in Rudong County of Jiangsu Province, received yellow-card warnings in 2014 and 2015, although it calls itself a supplier to Disney and Japanese sports brand Asics.

Neither Coach nor Disney responded to IPE's inquiry into their relationships with Chinese polluters, said the report.

Huang Yali, communication director at IPE, urged international brands to avoid companies with records of polluting along their supply chains.

IPE has been collecting data on environmental polluters since 2006, including leather enterprises.

The report said foreign brands impose limited control over Chinese factories and suppliers although they contribute to worsening pollution in China.

The two Chinese companies identified in the pollution report denied having cooperation with international brands, according to caixin.com.