With Earth Day fast approaching, Apple has announced its plans for the occasion, has released its 2019 environmental report, and has announced an expansion of its global recycling programs. Earth Day is held every year on April 22 and began in 1970; its purpose is to promote environmental protection.
To celebrate Earth Day, the firm has said that it will run environmentally-themed Today at Apple sessions at all Apple Stores. For those of you browsing the App Store on that day, you’ll see original stories and collections of apps and games that “honor the Earth and [help people] consider their role in the natural ecosystem.” Apple Watch owners will be able to complete outdoor workouts for 30 minutes or more in order to earn an Earth Day Award and stickers for the Messages app.
Behind the scenes, Apple is expanding its recycling programs by quadrupling the number of locations that U.S. customers can send their old iPhone to, for disassembly by the recycling machine, Daisy. For those in the U.S., Best Buy will allow iPhones to be returned for recycling, while Dutch customers can return their devices to KPN. Additionally, Apple Stores and Apple.com will accept iPhones as part of the Apple Trade In program. Apple’s efforts with Daisy have translated to 48,000 metric tons of electric waste being diverted from landfills.
Speaking about the firm’s efforts, Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, said:
“Advanced recycling must become an important part of the electronics supply chain, and Apple is pioneering a new path to help push our industry forward. We work hard to design products that our customers can rely on for a long time. When it comes time to recycle them, we hope that the convenience and benefit of our programs will encourage everyone to bring in their old devices.”
Another boost to Apple’s recycling efforts comes in the form of the newly opened Material Recovery Lab which is researching new recycling processes; this will help Apple more effectively recycle products going forward. The lab is 9,000-square-feet and is based in Austin, Texas. It"ll work with Apple’s engineering teams and those in academia to address today’s environmental challenges.
If you want to learn more about Apple’s recycling efforts, you can now download the company’s new environmental report from the Apple Environment website.