Reduction of greenhouse emissions: Apple sees itself on the right track

The figure on the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions comes from the recently published "Progress Report on Environmental Protection 2024". Here you can also find the report in a PDF version of over 100 pages.

As Lisa Jackson, Vice President of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives at Apple, says in the foreword to the report, this success is also thanks to the 320 suppliers and partners who have committed to using renewable energy in production. Apple products are also made with more recycled materials than ever before. Specifically, 56 per cent of the cobalt in Apple batteries comes from recycled sources, more than twice as much as in the previous year. The MacBook Air with the M3 chip is the first Apple product to be made from 50 per cent recycled materials.

In the case of lithium, a raw material that has been criticised for its extraction, Apple has now achieved a share of 24 per cent that comes from certified recycling suppliers. Lithium is an important material in the production of rechargeable batteries and batteries.

At least a small proportion of this is likely to come from Apple's own recycling robots Daisy and Dave. According to the report, they are currently able to dismantle 29 different iPhone models in such a way that the company can reuse most of the material originally used or at least dispose of it properly.

The fact that owners of an Apple device can either have it repaired - or even repair damage themselves - should also ensure greater sustainability. Since December 2023, this option has been available for 40 Apple products in 33 countries, including Switzerland.

Balance is still negative

Apple's environmental report focusses - naturally - on the positive aspects. And indeed, even for Greenpeace, the Cupertino-based company is more of a role model in the industry. Nevertheless, not all that is described as green is gold. Apple, for example, sells just under a quarter of a million iPhones every year, which equates to around 50,000 tonnes of future electronic waste. This is roughly the amount of material that Apple currently recycles each year. But that doesn't include a single gram of the millions of Macbooks, iPads and other gadgets. In plain language: Apple still leaves the recycling of the electronic waste for which they are responsible to a very large extent to others.

And with profits in the region of 100 billion US dollars per year, there would probably still be one or two measures that would help the planet. After all, as Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, recently said in an interview in autumn 2023:

In response to the accusation that Apple was "greenwashing", Cook replied in the same interview that his company's environmental policy was not a marketing measure. Cook said: "I think greenwashing is reprehensible. If you look at what we do, it's hard work." <p