What I don't get....

[Marky_Mark]

Apple keeps banging on about how green the Unibody is. How come?

You take a solid block of metal, you cut out and dispose of 90% of it. Even though the chaff is undoubtedly recycled, reprocessing and remanufacturing costs for the waste metal will involve a significant carbon footprint.

I don't buy it. What do others think?

 

[soberbrain]

I think it's just a matter of "being green enough" to get something like an EPEAT gold seal.

Manufacturing electronics or anything is not going to be completely green, but different techniques can make it "greener".

Not an expert, but just suggesting that the carbon footprint may be decreased from transportation of crude aluminum and also recycling processed materials instead of using crude.

 

[therapistfinder]

This is just speculation, but they might just sell the scraps to other manufacturers who in turn make products from them. That way, then can claim that they're not directly increasing their carbon footprint by re-smelting the aluminum. Obviously, anyone with half a brain would realize that doing this does not reduce total energy use but it does allow them to market their products as "environmentally friendly" if they're not the ones involved in recycling the waste metal.

 

[Marky_Mark]

So it is bollx then. I'm not going mad!

 

[aristobrat]

Even though the chaff is undoubtedly recycled, reprocessing and remanufacturing costs for the waste metal will involve a significant carbon footprint.

Seem's like GreenPeace's biggest concerns involving Apple being green is with the toxins involved, which apparently is minuscule on the new notebooks.
http://weblog.greenpeace.org/makingwaves/archives/2008/10/steve_jobs_greener_apple_updat.html

 

[Red-red]

I doubt they would get a award for nothing. The environmental brigade are a hard bunch to please.