Apple has announced a major acceleration of its efforts to expand the use of recycled materials across its products, including a new target to use 100% recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries by 2025. In addition, all magnets in Apple devices will use entirely recycled rare earth elements, and all Apple-designed printed circuit boards will use 100% recycled tin soldering and 100% recycled gold plating by 2025.
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The company aims to make all products with only recycled and renewable materials and achieve carbon neutrality for every product by 2030.
Expanding Use of Recycled Metals
Apple has significantly increased its use of key recycled metals in the last year, sourcing over two-thirds of all aluminium, nearly three-quarters of all rare earths, and more than 95% of all tungsten in its products from 100% recycled material.
Certified Recycled Cobalt and Rare Earth Elements
Apple has already expanded the use of 100% certified recycled cobalt over the past three years and plans to include it in all Apple-designed batteries by 2025. In 2022, a quarter of all cobalt found in Apple products came from recycled material, up from 13% the previous year.
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The company’s use of 100% certified recycled rare earth elements has greatly expanded in the last year as well, going from 45% in 2021 to 73% in 2022. Magnets are the largest use of rare earths in Apple products, and the new 2025 target means nearly all rare earths in Apple products will soon be 100% recycled.
Recycling Gold and Tin Soldering
As part of the accelerated timeline, Apple-designed printed circuit boards will use 100% certified recycled gold plating and 100% certified recycled tin soldering by 2025. Apple has been using recycled gold in the plating of the main logic board for iPhone 13, and has extended the material’s use in additional components and products, including the wire of all cameras in the iPhone 14 lineup, and printed circuit boards of iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods Pro, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and HomePod. The company is also working to encourage broader adoption of recycled gold for non-custom components across the electronics industry.
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Eliminating Plastics from Packaging
According to the statement, Apple is also committed to eliminating plastics from its packaging and has developed fiber alternatives for packaging components like screen films, wraps, and foam cushioning. To address the remaining 4% of plastic in its packaging footprint, Apple is innovating to replace labels, lamination, and other small uses.
The company developed a custom printer to introduce digital printing directly onto the boxes of iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, eliminating the need for most labels. Additionally, a new overprint varnish found in iPad Air, iPad Pro, and Apple Watch Series 8 packaging replaces the polypropylene plastic lamination found on boxes and packaging components. The innovation helped avoid over 1,100 metric tons of plastic and over 2,400 metric tons of carbon.
