More Than 50% of Recycled Materials Used to Manufacture Apple Products Last year
In a move to promote its environmental activities ahead of Earth Day, Apple is casting new light on its products in the process. The company stated that 18 per cent of the material in its fiscal 2021 products was recycled or regenerated as part of its 2022 Environmental Progress Report, the "highest-ever" ratio at the iPhone maker and a 50 per cent increase from the previous year's 12 per cent.
There were eight new items, all of which contained at least 20% recycled material. When Apple used certified recycled gold in the mainboards and camera arrays of the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro, this was the first time the company had used gold that had been recycled. It also used more cobalt, rare earth metals, and tungsten.
The IT company also stated that it had eliminated nearly all plastics from its packaging. In 2021, plastic packaging accounted for only 4% of all packaging, and the new iPhones were the company's first handsets without it. By 2025, Apple intends to have eliminated the use of plastic in its packaging.
Apple's reaction to repairability issues was not so delicately presented in the report. The company claims that its goods have become easier to fix in repair shops and have more robust designs. It mentioned the announcement of the self-service repair programme but didn't go into detail about the debut date of 2022.
Apple has previously been open about its environmental aims, including promises to make both its products and supply chain carbon neutral by 2030. Critics have said that well-publicized efforts like this can be "greenwashing," masking the overall environmental harm caused by their products (such as shipping hundreds of millions of devices per year). It's nevertheless comforting to know that the hardware you buy won't cause as much damage as it did in the past.
