Apple Announces Plans to Accelerate Use of Recycled Materials in New Products

[Crowbot]

What Apple is doing is great and all, I hope they continue. But Apple products should still be more repairable.

In tech design, it's always a balance between ease of assembly and ease of repair. Generally, the easier something is to assemble, the harder it is to disassemble for repair.

 

[Crowbot]

Part of being sustainable too is keeping your Apple products longer and even using them and extra three years when they no longer receive updates.

Most iPhone batteries can be replaced. The problem I see moat often is when people buy phones with minimal memory. With new OSs taking more and more space, and all of the personal files on the device, they often run out.

 

[Nermal]

Apple also flagged that its Material Recovery Lab in Austin, Texas have started using AR video projected directly onto work surfaces to show recycling partners how to disassemble devices.

What makes this "AR"? Isn't it just projection? That technology that's been around for well over a century?

 

[mrfunnypenguin]

Generally, the easier something is to assemble, the harder it is to disassemble for repair.

I agree. Additionally, making things easier to repair could mean making products less protected from drops and spills.

 

[DownUnderDan]

But will it lower the prices?

That is the one thing that won't be recycled.

 

[Shirasaki]

What makes this "AR"? Isn't it just projection? That technology that's been around for well over a century?

Maybe apple is touting image recognition alongside projection? That can be a possibility.

 

[FeliApple]

If Apple really cared about the environment, they wouldn't promote yearly upgrades and would make it so existing products had a longer lifespan with upgradability, easier repairs and not crippling older gear with new software.

I’m a little sorry to comment with this again, but it’s like hanging fruit, to be quite honest.

“We care about the environment” and “we obliterate iOS devices with the irreversible malware called iOS updates” should be mutually exclusive. You can’t have both, Apple. Choose.

 

[syklee26]

This is always a good move and an obvious one.

Not that it is one here at Macrumors, but I don’t know why cleaning up the Earth has become such a political issue. Would you bring politics in when discussing about cleaning your house?

 

[svish]

Good to hear about this. Apple is doing everything to reach the carbon neutral goal by 2030

 

[CarAnalogy]

This makes me feel better about my rapacious consumerism and buying things I don't need.

That's the plan!

 

[dk001]

This is always a good move and an obvious one.

Not that it is one here at Macrumors, but I don’t know why cleaning up the Earth has become such a political issue. Would you bring politics in when discussing about cleaning your house?

Likely as the media and Government has meshed politics and green.
Just look at plastic recycling.

 

[RalfTheDog]

It is hard to find an exact answer to that, mostly these minerals are mined as part of a larger mining operation. But this article here, claiming to be a new cheaper process is labeled as only "competitive"

Take cobalt:

As of 2022 globally we are mining 190,000 tons a year, and projected to be 320,000-460,000 tons by 2030. According to this source by 2030 we 'might' reach 34,000 tons of recycled cobalt a year. So less than 10% of the global commodity of cobalt will be recycled.

Apple (as of a 2019 report) uses several thousand tons of cobalt a year. So when someone says 'Look at Apple, they really care about the environment by only using recycled materials - I wish all companies would do that", the reality is all of those companies can't because the pool of recycled materials isn't as large as the global demand.


So, to restate my point, the only way Apple really makes a difference is to reduce their demand for the raw materials - and the easiest way to do that is to make products upgradable and repairable, as well as by not promoting the lifestyle of yearly conspicuous consumption.

The more companies that use recycled materials, the more demand there will be for recycling. One of the reasons Apple has access to more recycled stuff than other manufacturers, they pay their customers to bring in their old equipment and send them off to the recyclers themselves. Other manufacturers should do the same.

Then how come Apple are upping their recycling efforts only now? It’s not like the environment was doing just fine over the last 10 years or that Apple needed to wait until now to be able to disassemble their old devices. This is greenwashing, pure and simple.

If they really want to save the environment and precious components they should do what Jobs did - slim down their product line. What’s the point of still selling iPhone 12, for example, when 13 is way better? Stop making iPhone 12, shift the freed up components, decrease iPhone 13 price a bit more and bingo, lots of happy customers & less strain on the environment in one go.

They upgraded their recycling efforts as new recycling capabilities came online. Why do they sell the 12 when the 13 is so much better? First, they have leftover parts. Secondly, Much of the fab made to manufacture the 12 can't make the 13. Third, People who can't afford the newest and the best need affordable devices.

Do I upgrade every year, mostly. When I do, I give my older equipment to people who can't afford a new phone. All that I ask in return is that when they are done with it, they gift it to someone else or if it no longer works, take it in for recycling.

 

[dk001]

The more companies that use recycled materials, the more demand there will be for recycling. One of the reasons Apple has access to more recycled stuff than other manufacturers, they pay their customers to bring in their old equipment and send them off to the recyclers themselves. Other manufacturers should do the same.

They upgraded their recycling efforts as new recycling capabilities came online. Why do they sell the 12 when the 13 is so much better? First, they have leftover parts. Secondly, Much of the fab made to manufacture the 12 can't make the 13. Third, People who can't afford the newest and the best need affordable devices.

Do I upgrade every year, mostly. When I do, I give my older equipment to people who can't afford a new phone. All that I ask in return is that when they are done with it, they gift it to someone else or if it no longer works, take it in for recycling.

Nice thoughts however marketing and sales overrides pretty much all else at the moment. There isn’t enough cash and steady positive predictable flow to get marketing and sales really interested. Outside of using it as a gimmick to stir sales.