The average energy consumed by Apple products has been reduced by 68 percent since 2008, the company announced in its latest environmental responsibility report.
鈥淲hen we measure our carbon footprint, we even include the energy consumers use to run their devices. And we continue to make advancements in our products鈥� efficiency.
鈥淔or example, iMac consumes up to 96 percent less energy in sleep mode than the first generation," said the report issued on Thursday.
鈥淭he 12-inch MacBook uses less than 0.5 watt in sleep mode. And you can charge your iPhone X once a day for a year for only 75 cents. When you multiply these reductions by all the Apple devices in the world, the impact on our carbon footprint really adds up," the company noted.
According to the report, the product energy use compared with previous generations has declined over time, falling from 23.2 kWh/year in 2008 to 7.2 kWh/year in 2017.
-Closed-loop supply chain
The tech giant said they also prioritize 鈥渢hinking of ways to use fewer of the earth鈥檚 precious resources and ways to use them again鈥�, like recovering more of the high-quality materials in old devices to make new products.
鈥淭hrough more efficient recycling technologies and other innovations, we hope that one day we can stop mining the earth altogether,鈥� it said.
The company warned that the traditional supply chains 鈥搃n which materials are mined, manufactured as products, and often end up in landfills after use; and then more materials are extracted from the earth for new products 鈥� damaged the environment and depleted the earth's resources.
鈥淪o in 2017, we announced our commitment to a closed-loop supply chain鈥攚here products are made using recycled or renewable materials only."
鈥淎nd where we return an equivalent amount of material back to the market to be used by us or others. It鈥檚 an ambitious goal that will require years of collaboration across Apple teams, our suppliers, and recyclers鈥攂ut our work is already underway,鈥� it said.
-Daisy
The company also announced its newest disassembly robot, Daisy, calling it 鈥渢he most innovative and efficient way to reclaim more of the valuable materials stored in iPhone鈥�.
鈥淒aisy can take apart up to 200 iPhone devices per hour, removing and sorting components, so we can recover materials that traditional recyclers can鈥檛鈥攁nd at a higher quality."
鈥淏y meticulously disassembling our products, we can direct components and materials to those recyclers who can recover what鈥榮 important. These materials will then be sent back into secondary materials markets鈥攃losing the loop on these materials and reducing the need to mine more resources from the earth,鈥� it said.
Noting that Daisy built upon the learnings from Liam, the company鈥檚 R&D experiment in automated disassembly announced in 2016, Apple said it created Daisy 鈥渢o have a smaller footprint and the capability to disassemble multiple models of iPhone with higher variation compared to Liam鈥�.
For every 100,000 iPhone devices, Daisy has the potential to recover 1,900 kg of aluminum, 7.5 kg of silver, 710 kg of copper, 770 kg of cobalt, 93 kg of tungsten and 42 kg of tin among others.
Apple intends to install Daisy in multiple locations around the world starting with the United States and Europe.
The robot will process end-of-life iPhones returned by customers or via AppleCare.
鈥淭he program鈥檚 success depends in part on customers returning their end-of-life devices to Apple, so we are launching Apple GiveBack to make it easier for them to do so,鈥� it said.
By Hale Turkes
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr