Carbon Neutral: Apple Launches New Products

Tech giant, Apple is set to launch products they are describing as carbon neutral.

Every year, during September, Apple, one of America’s top technology companies, carries out its annual launch event. Where the company announces its new products ready for launching. This year, on the 12^th of September, Apple launched their new products at their headquarters in California. The products included the iPhone 15 series, the second generation of the Apple Watch Ultra, and the ninth series of the Apple Watch.

These products are in line with Apple’s target to reach their Apple 2030 goal. For the company to reach this goal, every product manufactured by the company must be carbon neutral, each devices lifecycle must also be carbon neutral, as well as the entire supply chain globally.

The company announced that their products would be carbon neutral.

This year, the company announced that their products would be carbon neutral. This is because they have stated that they will have a 75% reduction in the emissions their products produce during their lifecycle, when compared to the emissions they produced in 2015. This carbon neutrality is part of the manufacturing process, the transportation of the product, and the use of the product by the consumer.

The company have claimed that they have been able to reach this reduction in emissions, due to the investments made into producing clean energy, reducing the emissions created through transportation, and increasing the energy efficiency of the company and the products.

Apple have announced that their products are going to solely be carbon neutral. The company has made sure that during the redesign for their new models they are focussing on reducing emissions. When looking at the new Apple Watch series, the company has claimed that the battery is made from cobalt that is 100% recycled, and the casing is made from aluminium that is 100% recycled. The company has pledged that each of their new watches will contain 30% recycled or renewable material.

Further Environmental Efforts

Apple are also looking towards reducing their emissions when it comes to generating electricity. A representative for the tech giant has stated: 

“Electricity for manufacturing and charging devices represents
the largest source of Apple’s emissions across all product lines.
To address the latter, Apple has committed to invest in
large-scale solar and wind projects around the world. For
the carbon-neutral Apple Watch models, the company will match
100% of customers’ expected electricity use for charging.”

Apple have also begun to phase out the use of leather within each of its production lines. The company have announced that the packaging for the new series of Apple Watches will now be fibre based instead of being made from leather.

For those in the US, they have also introduced a new app that will be launched on the Home App, called Grid Forecast. This feature will allow you, as the user, to understand when the power grid is producing clean and renewable energy. Helping you to make informed decisions about when it is the most sustainable time to use electricity, such as for charging up your devices.

Lisa Jackson, who is Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, has stated that:

“At Apple, we have a longstanding and proven commitment to
leading the fight against climate change. Our focus on renewable
energy and low-carbon design has already driven industry-leading emissions reductions, and we’re not slowing down… We’ve achieved an important milestone in making the world’s most popular watch carbon neutral — and we will keep innovating to meet the urgency of the moment.”

Dr. Simon Nicholson, the co-Director of the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy, states that:

“Holding carbon in forests for a year or two isn’t going to cut it.
It needs to be held in forests for the long term,
which means centuries.”