Apple is eyeing a 2025 deadline to use 100% recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries.
Also by then, the company wants the magnets in its devices to use entirely recycled rare-Earth elements, and Apple-designed printed circuit boards to use 100% recycled tin soldering and 100% recycled gold plating.
“Our ambition to one day use 100% recycled and renewable materials in our products works hand-in-hand with Apple 2030: our goal to achieve carbon neutral products by 2030,” says Lisa Jackson, Apple’s VP of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. “We’re working toward both goals with urgency and advancing innovation across our entire industry in the process.”
In 2017, Apple announced plans for a “closed-loop” supply chain, “where products are built using only renewable resources or recycled material.”
Since 2019, Apple estimates more than 11,000 kilograms of cobalt have been recovered from batteries extracted and returned to the secondary market.
(Credit: Apple)
“Traditional supply chains are linear. Materials are mined, manufactured as products, and often end up in landfills after use,” according to its 2017 Environmental Responsibility Report. Apple is working to change that, breaking down old gadgets and using the scraps to build new products.
Cupertino uses a number of recycling robots—from Liam, the cutting tool that disassembles old iPhones to recover valuable materials, to Daisy, capable of identifying individual device models to determine which actions to perform, and Taz, introduced last year with “shredder-like technology” for recovering rare-Earth elements typically lost in conventional machines.
“Every day, Apple is innovating to make technology that enriches people’s lives, while protecting the planet we all share,” CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “From the recycled materials in our products, to the clean energy that powers our operations, our environmental work is integral to everything we make and to who we are.”
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Another 2025 goal, according to the firm, is to eliminate plastics from its packaging, which now include fiber alternatives like screen films, wraps, and foam cushioning. Still, 4% of Apple’s current packaging footprint—labels, lamination, etc.—includes plastic.
“We’ll keep pressing forward,” Cook said, “in the belief that great technology should be great for our users, and for the environment.”
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