Tech companies are among the most polluting in the world. It’s time they did something about it.
On the occasion of Earth Day, Apple has shown the improvements of his Daisy recycling robotand new data on its progress to become a company that uses 100% recycled materials.
we have a new video of Daisy, her spectacular recycling robot, which has been recently updated to be more efficient, and to accept the new iPhone models. You can see it in action in the opening video of the news.
Daisy takes care of disassemble old or damaged mobiles, and extracts its components, such as the aluminum or cobalt, to recycle them. It is capable of disassembling up to 23 iPhone models and separating their components, making recycling easier. You can separate highly demanded materials such as lithium to reuse them.
Since 2019, Daisy has recovered about 11,000 kilos of cobalt. One metric ton of main plates and chambers it recovers contains the same amount of copper and gold as more than 2,000 metric tons of rock.
You can recycle some 200 iPhones per hourand close to 1,200,000 a year.It has an open license, so that other manufacturers can use it, and adapt it to other technological products.
Apple’s climate goals
90% of the materials Apple uses are limited to just 14 minerals and compounds: steel, aluminum, cobalt, copper, tin, lithium, gold, paper, plastic, rare earths, tantalum, glass, tungsten and zinc.
By 2025, Apple wants to use 100% recycled cobalt in all batteries designed by the company. In addition, the magnets of Apple devices will only use recycled rare earths and all printed circuits will have 100% recycled tin for soldering and gold for coating.
According to the company, they keep up the pace by getting to be 100% carbon neutral by 2030.
Its new products are increasingly kinder to the environment. Apple Watch Series 8 reduces the device’s climate impact by 26%, and Macbook Air with M2 by 38%.
“At Apple, we’ve made our own operations carbon neutral and innovate every day to go even further in our urgent mission to fight climate change,” explains Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in the press release.
Tech companies have a responsibility to the planet, and it’s good to know that progress is being made. The program of recycling of Apple seems to be walking at a good pace to meet its climate goals: to be 100% carbon neutral by 2030.
