Apple sets goals to use more recycled materials by 2025

Apple plans to use more recycled materials in its products by 2025, the company announced Thursday. Apple’s plans include using 100% recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries and 100% recycled tin solder and gold plating for all Apple-designed circuit boards. The company also said it expects the magnets in all Apple devices to also be made from recycled rare earth elements by then.

Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environmental, policy and social initiatives, said in a press release that the plan aligns with Apple’s goal of producing carbon-neutral products by 2030.

“We are working on both of these goals with urgency and advancing innovation across our industry in the process,” Jackson said in the statement.

Apple also said it has made progress in eliminating plastic from corporate packaging by 2025. Apple said only 4% of its packaging is currently made from plastic.

Apple employs a number of robots to assist in its efforts to extract and recycle these materials from older devices. Since 2019, the company’s iPhone dismantling robot, Daisy, has helped extract about 24,250 pounds (about 11,000 kilograms) of cobalt from batteries, according to Apple. In 2022, the company introduced a recycling robot, named Tazto help recover rare earth elements like magnets from products.

To find out more, see how difficult it is to make a completely recycled phone And how recycling plastics misses the point.