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.
A new rumor claims Apple could discontinue all its silicone-based accessories this week, replacing them with more eco-friendly materials.
The company strives to reduce the impact of its products on the environment, and this could be the latest move on that front.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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’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.
