Apple sets recycled-content goals for 2025

Apple has announced that it has set a target to use 100 percent-recycled cobalt in all its in-house designed batteries by 2025. Additionally, the California-based company says magnets in Apple devices will use entirely recycled rare earth elements, while all Apple-designed printed circuit boards will use 100 percent-recycled tin soldering and 100 percent-recycled gold plating. These moves are the latest in Apple’s work to expand recycled materials across its products.

The company says it significantly expanded its use of key recycled metals last year, sourcing more than two-thirds of the aluminum, nearly three-quarters of all rare earths and more than 95 percent of all tungsten in Apple products from 100 percent-recycled materials. Apple says its aim is to one day make all products using only recycled and renewable materials and to make every product carbon neutral by 2030.

“Every day, Apple is innovating to make technology that enriches people’s lives while protecting the planet we all share,” Apple CEO Tim Cook says. “From the recycled materials in our products to the clean energy that powers our operations, our environmental work is integral to everything we make and to who we are. So, we’ll keep pressing forward in the belief that great technology should be great for our users and for the environment.”

“Our ambition to one day use 100 percent-recycled and renewable materials in our products works hand in hand with Apple 2030: Our goal to achieve carbon neutral products by 2030,” adds Lisa Jackson, Apple vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. “We’re working toward both goals with urgency and advancing innovation across our entire industry in the process.”

In 2022, a quarter of all the cobalt used in Apple products came from recycled material, up from 13 percent the previous year, according to the company. Cobalt, which Apple primarily uses in its batteries, enables high energy density while also meeting the company’s standards for longevity and safety.

The company’s use of 100 percent-certified recycled rare earth elements also has expanded in the last year from 45 percent in 2021 to 73 percent in 2022. Since first introducing recycled rare earths in the Taptic Engine of iPhone 11, Apple says it has expanded its use of the material across its devices, including in all magnets found in the latest iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, and Mac models. Given that magnets represent Apple’s largest use of rare earths, the new 2025 target means nearly all rare earths in Apple products will soon be 100 percent recycled.

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Apple also has committed to eliminating plastics from the company’s packaging by 2025. The development of fiber alternatives for packaging components such as screen films, wraps and foam cushioning has helped enable this goal. To address the remaining 4 percent plastic in the company’s packaging footprint, Apple says it is innovating to replace labels, lamination and other small uses. In the last year, Apple 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, an 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, avoiding more than 1,100 metric tons of plastic and more than 2,400 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

In the transition to recycled and renewable content, Apple says it has prioritized 14 materials based on environment, human rights and supply impact that together account for nearly 90 percent of the material shipped in Apple products: aluminum, cobalt, copper, glass, gold, lithium, paper, plastics, rare earth elements, steel, tantalum, tin, tungsten and zinc.

In 2022, about 20 percent of all material shipped in Apple products came from recycled or renewable sources, according to the company. This includes the first use of recycled copper foil in the main logic board of iPad (10th generation), the introduction of certified recycled steel in the battery tray of MacBook Air with the M2 chip, 100 percent-recycled tungsten in the latest Apple Watch lineup, and the aluminum enclosures found in many Apple products, made with a 100 percent-recycled aluminum alloy designed by Apple.

Apple says its work in end-of-life disassembly and recycling has helped make this progress possible. The company partners with research institutions and its Material Recovery Lab in Austin, Texas, to develop innovative ways to give materials in Apple products new life. This work also helps inform design decisions that support disassembly and recovery.

The company says it also has started to deploy overhead projector-based augmented reality (AR) systems to recycling partners. The system guides the disassembly of devices, including MacBook and iPad, by projecting video imagery directly onto a work surface. The company also publishes Apple Recycler Guides for global recyclers to maximize the efficiency of material recovery while safeguarding human health and safety.