Apple halves greenhouse gas emissions, carbon neutrality n…

Clean energy, recycled components, biodegradable packaging. In recent years, Cupertino has invested in environmental sustainability, and in its Environmental Progress Report 2024 significant results. Applein fact, it halves its own emissions total greenhouse gases — a reduction of over 55% compared to 2015. One step towards the goal “Apple 2030“, which aims to make thecarbon neutral company along the entire value chain by the end of the decade.

Apple halves greenhouse gas emissions and aims for carbon neutrality

To achieve this, Apple has focused on a series of innovations across the board. He invested in clean energy, with sustainable systems of various types. In addition to investments in wind energy, he has focused on projects solar energy in the United States and Europe.

Compared to 2020, the company powers its facilities around the world with three times as much clean energy — that’s 18 gigawatts. In Spain, for example, a collaboration with ib vogt will bring online 105 megawatts of solar energy by the end of 2024. Apple reports that 95% of its suppliers have begun transitioning to greener sources, something that avoided more than 18.5 million tons of carbon dioxide last year alone.

The company has also invested in improvements the management of water resources. To achieve the goal of replenishing the 100% of fresh water used in facilities located in areas of high water stressApple has entered into partnerships that will provide approximately 7 billion gallons of water benefits over the next 20 years (approximately 26.5 billion liters).

Recycled materials and more sustainable solutions

Another area in which Apple has invested concerns the sustainable construction of devices such as iPhone, Mac and more. The Apple is progressively increasing the use of recycled materials in its products, thus reducing the carbon footprint. In 2022, 56% of the cobalt and 24% of the lithium in the batteries came from recycled sources, while 100% recycled copper was used in key components of the iPhone 15 and MacBook Pro 16″. The MacBook Air with M3 is the first product made with 50% recycled materials.

This push towards a more sustainable design it not only involves reducing the use of virgin materials in products, but also the removal of plastic in packaging. The new Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro have 100% fiber packs, recyclable in all their parts. The other products have less than 3% plastic in the packaging.

The ability to recycle goes beyond what we as buyers see in Apple products. The Californian company has in fact implemented reusable air filters in all its data centers globally, as well as reducing consumption by 35%.

And the innovation continues: Cupertino has published a document with the University of British Columbia on the use of biodegradable materials. Furthermore, there are investments for the direct recycling of devices. Like the one, which we also told you about last year, about the robot Daisycapable of disassembling 29 iPhone models into 15 different components, which the machines then recycle Dave and Taz in China they make them reusable.

In this area, the novelty concerns the use of artificial intelligence to guide i robots transporting components to recycling facilities. Automation that helps recycling.

Towards a carbon neutral future

In addition to these initiatives, Apple yesterday celebrated Earth Day with its customers through dedicated collections on Podcasts, Books and Music, raising public awareness on sustainability issues. The challenge of carbon neutrality requires a continuous and long-term effort from everyone.

Apple will need to continue to invest in clean technologies, recycled materials and sustainable practices to reach the “Apple 2030” goal. The commitment to involving the entire value chain, from suppliers to customers, seems like the right approach. With today’s announcement, Cupertino is halfway there: in the next six years, it will not be enough to halve emissions, they will have to be eliminated. And the path seems to be the right one.

Find Apple’s 2024 environmental report here.