Robots, virtual reality, sustainable design: this is how Apple will be zero-emissions in 2030
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113 pages, an impressive amount of data, the certifications of third parties such as Nsai, IqNet, Fraunhofer. Apple’s environmental report published ahead of Earth Day 2023 is, like in other years, the richest and most detailed of those that the various tech companies present to the public and investors. The first figure is that the Cupertino-based company has achieved carbon neutrality for its corporate emissions and has reduced supply chain emissions by 45% compared to 2015, but even more important is the goal: total zero emissions by 2030, also for the production chain. An “immense challenge”, to use the words of CEO Tim Cook, which the company expects to win by adopting a strategy based on three pillars: climate change, resources and smarter chemistry.
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To recycle
Recycling plays a vital role: in products as in packaging, which are made with materials from circular supply chains that use recycled content and renewable resources. But Apple wants to go further and achieve independence from extractive resources. In 2022, for example, it expanded its use of recycled metals and now more than two-thirds of all aluminum, nearly three-quarters of all rare earths and more than 95% of all tungsten in Apple products come from 100% recycled.
“From the recycled materials in our products to the clean energy that powers our operations, our environmental commitment is integral to everything we make and who we are,” said Tim Cook.
“Our ambition to one day use 100 percent recycled and renewable materials in our products goes hand-in-hand with Apple’s 2030 goal to have carbon neutral products by 2030,” said Lisa Jackson, vice president Environment, Policy , and Apple’s Social Initiatives. “We’re working to achieve both goals, and in doing so, we’re advancing innovation across our industry.”
Daisy and her siblings
For this reason, in Breda in the Netherlands there is Daisy, the iPhone disassembly robot, which allows you to recover cobalt, lithium and other materials. Since 2019, Apple estimates that more than 11,000 kg of cobalt has been recovered from Daisy and placed on the secondary market. Daisy is able to disassemble 15 to 23 iPhone models, and process 1.2 million units a year: from a metric ton of iPhone main logic boards, flexes and camera modules recovered by Daisy, it is possible to recover the same gold and copper quantities of over 2000 metric tons of rock mined.
But this is just one example: in China, an Apple partner operates the Dave robot, which helps speed up the recovery of rare earth elements by disassembling the Taptic Engines. And then there’s Taz, designed to recover modules containing rare earth magnets that are usually lost in conventional shredders. All of Apple’s robot projects are freely available in open source for anyone who wants to build them, adapting them to other models and devices.
In the transition to recycled and renewable content, Apple has prioritized 14 materials based on environmental, human rights and supply chain impacts: aluminum, cobalt, copper, glass, gold, lithium, paper, plastic, earth elements rare, steel, tantalum, tin, tungsten and zinc. In 2022, around 20% of the materials used in Apple products came from recycled or renewable sources.
Around 2025
In 2022, a quarter of all cobalt in Apple products came from recycled material, up from 13% a year earlier. Cobalt is a key material for the batteries used in most consumer electronic devices; in the case of Apple it is used in iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook and various other products.
The use of certified 100% recycled rare earth elements increased from 45% in 2021 to 73% in 2022. Since it first introduced recycled rare earth elements in the Taptic Engine of the iPhone 11, Apple has extended the use of this material to all of its devices, including the magnets found in the latest iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook and Mac models.
In addition, by 2025, all Apple-designed circuit boards will use 100% certified recycled gold plating. The iPhone 13 was the first to use only recycled gold in the plating of the main logic board, then Apple has extended the use of this material to other components and products, such as the iPhone 14 camera connectors and iPad circuit boards , Apple Watch, AirPods Pro, MacBook Pro, Mac mini and HomePod.
By 2025, the company will use 100% recycled tin solder in all rigid and flex circuit boards. Already last year, 38% of the tin used came from recycled sources.
Clean innovation
Tim Cook has repeatedly expressed his interest in augmented reality. While waiting for the viewer that should be presented in June, a concrete application of AR is precisely in the disassembly of devices such as MacBooks and iPads for recycling: Apple is providing partners with augmented reality systems based on overhead projectors that they project instructions directly onto the work surface, to make operations easier.
The innovation has also made progress towards another of Apple’s 2025 goals: eliminating plastic from packaging. The development of fiber alternatives for components such as screen films, casings and padding has helped avoid over 1,100 tonnes of plastic and over 2,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide. To address the remaining 4% of plastic in packaging, Apple is working on innovative ways to replace labels, lamination and other small uses.
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Planning for the future
Apple’s commitment to advancing the research and development of new methods of disassembly and end-of-life recycling has helped make these advances possible. But attention to recovery and recycling begins right from the design of a product. making sure that it consumes little, that it is robust, that it can be updated for a long time and also by introducing programs such as the trade-in, which made it possible to reuse 12.1 million devices and accessories in the 2022 fiscal year.
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