Apple announced the expansion of its recycling programs, quadrupling the number of locations for recycling of iPhones in the US.
Daisy, its recycling robot, will recycle select used iPhones returned to Best Buy stores in the US and KPN retailers in the Netherlands. Customers can also send their eligible devices at any Apple Store or through apple.com for recycling.
Apple has received nearly 1 million devices through Apple programs and each Daisy can disassemble 1.2 million devices per year. In 2018, the company refurbished more than 7.8 million Apple devices and helped divert more than 48,000 metric tons of electronic waste from landfills.
Daisy is able to disassemble 15 iPhone models at the rate of 200 per hour, recovering even more important materials for re-use. iPhone manufacturing units use recycled materials for future use.
Apple said it re-uses cobalt, a key battery material, to make brand-new Apple batteries.
Apple uses 100 percent recycled tin in a key component of the main logic boards of 11 different products. The company’s engineering of an aluminum alloy made from 100 percent recycled aluminum allows the new MacBook Air and Mac mini to have nearly half the carbon footprint of earlier models.
Apple also announced the opening of its Material Recovery Lab dedicated to discovering future recycling processes. The new 9,000-square-foot facility in Austin, Texas, will look for innovative solutions involving robotics and machine learning to improve on traditional methods like targeted disassembly, sorting and shredding.
The number of Apple Stores and network of Authorized Service Providers has grown to over 5,000 worldwide. Apple also launched a battery replacement and recycling program for all of its products.