| Cult of Mac

Tim Cook stares down ‘Mother Nature’ as Apple touts first carbon-neutral products

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Tim Cook says
Even when facing off with a skeptical Mother Nature, Tim Cook never backs down!
Photo: Apple
Wonderlust 2023

Tim Cook and a surprisingly stone-cold Mother Nature had a staring contest at Apple Park during the Wonderlust event Tuesday. And in Apple’s telling, Tim Cook won.

He played himself in the keynote segment while Octavia Spencer, star of the canceled Truth Be Told on Apple TV+, played a feisty Mother Nature taking executives to task on environmental-initiative progress.

But in the end she chilled out, because Apple had some progress to show, including its first carbon-neutral products.

Apple set to train 12 more ecofriendly minority-owned businesses

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Meet the members of Apple's third Impact Accelerator class (more details below).
Meet the members of Apple's third Impact Accelerator class (more details below).
Photo: Apple

Apple set up its third Impact Accelerator class to help 12 minority-owned green-technology and clean-energy companies develop their businesses, the company said Wednesday.

The training program, in this case for a dozen Black-, Hispanic/Latinx- and Indigenous-owned companies, is part of Cupertino’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative.

Apple accelerates push to make iPhones 100% recycled

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Apple accelerates push to make iPhones 100% recycled
Rare earth materials from used Taptic Engines go into new Apple devices.
Photo: Apple

Apple committed itself to a new target to use 100% recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries by 2025. And by that same year, the company will use only recycled rare earth elements in its magnets. In addition, it intends to make circuit boards with 100% recycled tin soldering and gold plating.

These commitments build on the company’s goal to eventually make all its products with only recycled and renewable materials.

Apple doubles money going into natural carbon removal projects

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Apple doubles money going into natural carbon removal projects
Sustainably managed tree farms help the environment and investors.
Photo: Apple

With Earth Day coming up, Apple says it’s doubling its total commitment to “nature-based carbon removal projects” with an additional $200 million investment. In less technical terms, it’s backing projects to plant trees.

And it’s not just trees for trees’ sake. Part of Apple’s Restore Fund goes to agricultural projects that generate income from sustainably managed tree farms.

Apple and component suppliers move toward decarbonizing production by 2030

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Apple and component suppliers move toward decarbonizing production by 2030
Technicians from Simmitri perform maintenance on solar panels installed at Bench-Tek Solutions in Santa Clara, California.

Apple and 250 companies that supply components for its products are making progress in switching to renewable energy for all Apple production by 2030. The manufacturing partners support over 13 gigawatts of renewable electricity per year, a nearly 30% increase.

The company continues to distribute money from its $4.7 billion Green Bonds program to help finance the expansion of clean energy solutions around the world.

You can soon charge your iPhone using clean energy

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Clean Energy Charging feature in iOS 16: You can soon charge your iPhone using clean energy
The new Clean Energy Charging feature in iOS 16 could help ease the strain on power grids.
Photo: Appolinary Kalashnikova/Unsplash License/Modified by Cult of Mac

iPhones will gain a new Clean Energy Charging option later this year as a part of an iOS 16 update, Apple said Monday.

The first-of-its-kind feature will strategically time when iPhones charge, using cleaner energy and thus reducing the devices’ carbon footprint.

Your repaired iPhone 12 will return in more eco-friendly packaging

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iPhone 12 mini
Don't be surprised if your repaired iPhone 12 comes in a brown box
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple will start shipping repaired iPhone 12 units in environment-friendly packaging starting this week. Made from bleach-free paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, the new brown box will replace the white boxes used so far.

Apple promises to eliminate the use of plastic in its packaging by 2025.

There’s recycled gold in them there iPhones

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Daisy the robot can disassemble up to 1.2 million phones each year.
Daisy the robot can disassemble up to 1.2 million phones each year, helping Apple recover more valuable materials for recycling.
Photo: Apple

For the first time, Apple is putting certified recycled gold in the iPhone. It’s part of the company’s increased use of recycled content across its products. Because of these efforts, nearly 20% of all material used in Apple products in 2021 was recycled, a new high point for the company.

“As people around the world join in celebrating Earth Day, we are making real progress in our work to address the climate crisis and to one day make our products without taking anything from the earth,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, in a press release Tuesday.

Apple also added a new shredderbot that rips apart audio modules to its robot recycling crew.

Apple helps suppliers more than double their use of clean power

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Apple helps suppliers more than double their use of clean power
Apple invested in the IP Radian Solar project to help offset the electricity used to charge iPhones, Macs, iPads, etc.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s suppliers have more than doubled their use of clean power over the last year. There’s over 10 gigawatts operational today.  In 2021, these projects avoided 13.9 million metric tons of carbon emissions.

And the iPhone-maker itself is investing in green energy projects.