Apple’s commitment to keeping the planet safe is integral to its operations. In 2020, the company announced that it is planning to become 100% carbon neutral by 2030, and all the effort is paying off.
Recently, Apple succeeded in surpassing a 60% decrease in its greenhouse gas emissions. But this isn’t the only major milestone that the company achieved when it comes to sustainability: according to its annual Environmental Progress Report, Apple has attained its goal of using 99% of recycled cobalt in batteries and recycled rare earth elements in all magnets.
Apple is constantly striving to use more recycled materials and clean energy than ever before, with the aim of managing its waste and preserving water. As part of its 2030 strategy, the company is prioritizing the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 75% compared to its 2015 baseline year before utilizing high-quality carbon credits to balance the rest of the emissions. In the previous year, the comprehensive efforts of Apple to lower its carbon footprint, including the use of recycled materials for designed products and transitioning its supply chain to renewable electricity, helped prevent about 41 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. For many companies, sustainability is all talk, but not for Apple, and this is shown in all its environmental initiatives, which we will explore in more depth below.
The use of recycled and renewable materials
Apple has been on a mission to utilize more renewable and recycled materials across its products, which helps decrease its carbon footprint without affecting performance or quality. Earlier this year, the company surpassed 99% on the way toward its 2025 goals to utilize 100% recycled cobalt in all its batteries and 100% recycled rare elements in all magnets.
Overall, magnets represent the most considerable use of rare earth elements in the company’s products, while their batteries include more than 97% of their total cobalt use. Apple strives to source primary and recycled minerals responsibly while driving significant environmental standards and human rights across its supply chain.
A transition to clean energy and a reduction in the impact of industrial processes
Apple has long been collaborating with its suppliers to transition to 100% renewable energy as part of their Apple production by 2030, and as a result of this effort, the company’s supply chain has 17.8 GW of renewable electricity online. This has helped avoid 21.8 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions during last year, representing an increase of more than 17% compared to last year. Moreover, suppliers prevented nearly 2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by collaborating with Apple for energy efficiency optimization.
Besides transitioning suppliers to clean energy, the company is also driving transformation in industrial processes, with the aim of reducing their impact on the planet. This involves designing flat-panel displays and semiconductors, which generate high fluorinated greenhouse gases. 26% of Apple’s semiconductor suppliers have succeeded in easing off at least 90% of their F-GHGs from their facilities, which also serve additional customers, creating ripples beyond Apple.
Waste management as the key to environmental progress
In the previous year, suppliers contributing to Apple’s Zero Waste program redirected around 600,000 metric tons of waste from landfills. As a result, 4.5 million square meters of landfill space were eliminated, marking a significant milestone in waste management.
Apple, alongside its suppliers, is continuously working on accelerating progress through different initiatives, such as deploying reusable trays in manufacturing, deploying recyclable protective films, and recovering precious metals from waste liquids produced during printed circuit board manufacturing.
Through its waste management efforts, the company is setting an example for other businesses as well to embrace sustainability practices that can make a difference in their operations and save them time and money in the long run. One of the solutions that companies can implement to manage waste is using balers and compactors for rent or sale from Miltek NZ, which can go a long way in lowering their carbon footprint. These machines are very effective, and they can be used for all forms of waste, from plastic and cardboard to cans and general waste.
Such an investment in waste management, as Apple has continuously shown it, is indeed worth it, as it will pay off in the long run, not just protecting the planet but also helping businesses stand out, build a strong reputation and earn customers’ trust.
Billions of gallons in water savings on a yearly basis
Apple alongside its suppliers have been successful achieving more than 90 billion gallons in fresh water savings since the introduction of the Supplier Clean Water Program back in 2013. The initiative promotes water efficiency and reuse, as well as other benefits all across the world.
The average reuse rate accounted for 42% last year, translating into savings of 14 billion gallons of fresh water. Across Apple’s operations, the team has established a target to replenish 100% of freshwater withdrawals by 2030 in those locations with the highest stress concentration.
The company has initiated long-term collaborations amount to more than 40% of that target, which includes support for new and continuous replenishment projects in India, the U.S., and Africa, with all of them expected to deliver around 9 billion gallons in water benefits over the course of the next two decades.
Constant innovation to decrease product emissions
Apple’s commitment to sustainability is shown in the way the company designs its products. Earlier this year, the team introduced the new MacBook Air with more than 55% recycled content – which is actually the biggest percent in any Apple product so far. In 2024, the company also launched a carbon neutral Mac for the first time, and at the same time, it gives customers the opportunity to pick a carbon neutral option of any Apple Watch of their preferred material.
Apple’s carbon-neutral products are only the result of its ongoing dedication to innovation, which aims to decrease carbon emissions across materials, transportation, and electricity, which represent the three biggest sources that the company uses.
The bottom line
Sustainability isn’t a buzzword in the business landscape – it has become an essential priority for companies that seek to remain relevant in the long run, especially today when climate change is affecting the world on a large scale, and the consequences are more evident than ever.
As seen in this blog, Apple has implemented many initiatives in terms of sustainability, and it has undoubtedly made incredible progress already. It will be exciting to see how they will approach their 2030 goals in the next few years, but one thing is clear: Apple’s unwavering commitment to sustainability serves as an inspiration for all the other companies, encouraging them to play their part in creating a greener future.
This guest post is from Mil-tek, which makes low-footprint waste management solutions is to reduce waste in businesses and sectors of all sizes and shapes.
