Selling iPhones without chargers saves tons of metal
Apple said its decision to stop bundling chargers with its products, such as the iPhone, saves 861,000 tons of metal, including copper, zinc, and tin.
The smaller packaging of the company's new iPhones allowed the company to charge the device more efficiently as well, with each charging pallet capable of carrying 70 percent more iPhone 12 boxes.
The company provided this information in its 2021 Environmental Progress Report, which covers the fiscal year 2020.
Last year, Apple cut carbon dioxide emissions from 25.1 million tons in 2019 to 22.6 million, and it also cut energy use by 13.9 million kilowatt-hours.
Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives said: “As a company, we have progressed with greater urgency than ever to create a stronger and healthier future for our planet and its people.
- She added: We made real progress in 2020 in our battle against climate change, Apple is becoming carbon neutral for its operations around the world, and we are committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 for our entire footprint - from the supply chain to the use of the products we make.
These same products now use more recycled materials than ever before, like the 40 percent recycled content in the MacBook Air with the Retina display, and the 99 percent recycled tungsten that the company now uses in the iPhone 12 and Apple Watch Series 6.
The report notes work ongoing at the company's materials recovery laboratory in Texas to recover materials such as rare earth elements, steel, and tungsten from recycled iPhones.
Apple says that one metric ton of components that Daisy disassembly robot removes from iPhones contains gold and copper equivalent to 150 metric tons of mined ore.
The company also stated that 39,000 metric tons of e-waste were removed from the landfill last year.
The Apple M1 chip was designed to be more energy-efficient, and the company says: The use of the processor in the Mac Mini reduced the overall system’s carbon footprint by 34 percent.
Meanwhile, partly considering the switch to a more energy-efficient charger, the eighth-generation iPads require 66 percent less energy than the Energy Star requirement.
Over the past 12 years, the iPhone manufacturer has reduced the average energy use of its products by more than 70 percent.
The efforts extend to the company's supply chain, as more than 110 suppliers have committed to using clean energy.
As of December, more than 90 percent had installed technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90 percent.
The report touches on some of the previously well-known initiatives, such as Apple's data centers that have long operated entirely on renewable electricity and a recent investment of $ 200 million to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through carbon capture.