In an effort to give back to planet earth, American multinational technology company Apple has vowed to make all its products, including iPhones, iPads and other electronic equipment from only recycled materials.
The company plans to build a new solar farm with NV Energy Inc for power supply to its new data center in Reno, Nevada, USA. Technological companies like Apple have come under the scanner for their high consumption of electricity and other natural resources. Customers are also being encouraged to return defunct products to its recycling program, Apple New. A 29-arm robot assembly line by name of LIAM, is used to disassemble the products. The robot has the potential to gut 24 million iPhones in a year with minimal degradation of the metals’ quality. After months of research, the company came to the conclusion that the aluminum to be used for manufacturing new products should come from Apple products only, rather than recycling facilities because of their high-end quality, as per DailyMail.
The multi-billion dollar company is melting down iPhones, which are returned by customers for recycling, to make minicomputers used in its factories. The company has already hinted at the possibility of ditching dialog semiconductor for making power management chips for iPhones in the upcoming future.
On the other hand, the packaging of the products is also being taken care of the company. Reportedly, the paper that is being used in its packaging is 99% recycled. The properties of the company, including corporate offices, stores, and data centers, all run on 96% renewable energy.
Apple runs its largest data center, which is located in the USA, on solar power. The ultimate goal for the company is “to one day end our reliance together on mining altogether”.
A large chunk of mobile manufacturers makes their products from raw materials including zinc, cobalt, tantalum, copper and tungsten. Although these minerals are conflict free, the sad part is that the companies usually rely on cheap labor to mine these minerals which are very hard to reach, and often, the workers are children.
So, in a way, Apple going green not only will contribute to the environment, but it will also stop child labor to an extent, and we can only hope, other companies to follow suit.