Bangladesh: 2 years after Rana Plaza, workers denied rights
Two years after the collapse of Rana Plaza, garment workers in Bangladesh still face poor working conditions and anti-union tactics by employers, says a Human Rights Watchreport released yesterday. In the two years since more than 1,100 workers died in the collapse of the factory, efforts are underway to make Bangladesh factories safer, but the government and Western retailers could do more to enforce international labour standards to protect workers’ rights, including their right to form unions, says the group. Interviews with over 160 workers from 44 factories heard reports of continued violations including physical assault, verbal abuse – sometimes of a sexual nature – forced overtime, denial of paid maternity leave, and failure to pay wages and bonuses on time or in full. Despite recent labour law reforms, many workers who try to form unions to address such abuses face threats, intimidation, dismissal, and sometimes physical assault. (Human Rights Watch)
Waste
World discarded $52 billion in electronic waste in 2014
The United States and China contributed most to record mountains of electronic waste such as mobile phones, hair dryers and fridges in 2014. Less than a sixth ended up recycled worldwide, a UN report has said. Overall, 41.8 million tonnes of “e-waste” — defined as any device with an electric cord or battery — were dumped around the globe in 2014, and only an estimated 6.5 million tonnes were taken for recycling. The United States led e-waste dumping with 7.1 million tonnes in 2014, ahead of China with 6 million tonnes, followed by Japan, Germany and India. The report estimates that the discarded materials, including gold, silver, iron and copper, were worth some US $52 billion. Norway led per capita waste generation, with 28 kg dumped per inhabitant, followed by Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark and Britain. On that ranking, the United States was ninth and China was not among a list of the top 40. (Thomson Reuters)
All 23 Nestlé USA factories achieve zero waste to landfill
Food manufacturer Nestlé USA has announced that all of its 23 factories – spanning confections, dairy, frozen and refrigerated meals, ice cream, baking ingredients and beverages – are now landfill-free, contributing zero waste for disposal. Nestlé’s current waste-reduction efforts include composting, recycling, energy production, and the provision of safe products for animal feed. Employees also take actions to minimize by-products, and engage in recycling programs and partnerships with credible waste vendors . All of Nestlé USA’s factories employ ISO 14001-certified environmental management systems to help manage their environmental impact, including waste elimination. Fifteen percent of all of Nestlé’s factories worldwide (72 in total) achieved zero waste for disposal for all of 2014. This exceeds Nestlé’s goal of having 10 percent of its global factories at this stage by 2015. (Environmental Leader)
Governance
HSBC and Barclays urged to commit to Cost-of-Conduct reforms
Activist group ShareAction is this week calling on shareholders in HSBC and Barclays to ask their boards to commit to full transparency on so-called ‘conduct costs’, and to contribute to an industry-wide initiative to achieve consistency on their reporting across the global banking sector. Conduct costs include fines imposed by regulators for LIBOR rigging, money-laundering, and doing business with rogue regimes; sums paid through compensation and damages for wrongdoing; and the costs of repurchasing securities that were missold to the market. Research conducted by the independent CCP Research Foundation shows that 15 of the largest international banks incurred £108 billion in conduct costs between 2009 and 2013, with Barclays and HSBC alone incurring conduct costs of almost £5 billion each in that period. ShareAction says that Lloyds and RBS will face similar questions at their upcoming AGMs later in 2015. (ShareAction)
Policy and Research
Survey: wealthiest should donate 25% of money to good causes
The British public would like to see the wealthiest in society donate more to worthy causes, according to a new poll, with answers revealing Brits believe the rich should give away 25 percent of their money. The survey, conducted by Populus for the Charities Aid Foundation, asked over 2,000 UK consumers about their views on philanthropy for the richest in our society. More than half of those questioned think that wealthy people should give away more than they do and some 62 percent stated that giving to charity by the more affluent sets a good example to others. Over two-fifths said the wealthy could help to increase giving by talking about causes more. The survey also revealed that the UK public would like to see similar commitments to the Giving Pledge, led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, which asks wealthy individuals to commit to giving away at least 50 percent of their wealth to good causes either during their lifetime or in their will. (Blue and Green Tomorrow)
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