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Apple Is Now Forcing Its Suppliers to Go 'Green' (afr.com)
Apple is already running on 100% green energy, according to Fast Company. But Apple is still "keen to show it's a good corporate citizen," reports the Australian Financial Review:
Apple's annual supplier responsibility report released on Thursday revealed 20 manufacturing supplier facilities had been removed from the company's supply chain for breaches of environmental permits or workplace rules. "Smelters and refiners deeper in our supply chain are held to similar standards and if they exhibit a lack of commitment to meet our supplier code of conduct, they risk losing Apple's business," the report said...
In 2018, Apple completed 770 audits of its supplier manufacturing facilities, logistics and repair centres and contact centre facilities. There were also 279 third-party mineral smelter and refiner audits conducted... Apple's 13th annual supplier responsibility progress report said all final assembly points for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods and HomePod, were now certified zero waste to landfill, while conserving billions of litres of water and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Apple's suppliers in 45 countries have diverted 1 million tonnes of garbage in three years, saved 28.7 gigalitres of water and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 466,000 annualised metric tons, which is the equivalent to taking 100,000 cars off the road for one year.
In 2018, Apple completed 770 audits of its supplier manufacturing facilities, logistics and repair centres and contact centre facilities. There were also 279 third-party mineral smelter and refiner audits conducted... Apple's 13th annual supplier responsibility progress report said all final assembly points for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods and HomePod, were now certified zero waste to landfill, while conserving billions of litres of water and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Apple's suppliers in 45 countries have diverted 1 million tonnes of garbage in three years, saved 28.7 gigalitres of water and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 466,000 annualised metric tons, which is the equivalent to taking 100,000 cars off the road for one year.
Having to replace a bunch of parts and drop $700 because a MacBook Pro's butterfly keyboard broke isn't green, Apple. These things have embodied energy, implicit in their manufacture. They're not disposable.
I hope more people see past Apple's sleight of hand here. They design their devices in such a way that makes it very difficult (or impossible) to repair, and it's usually just cheaper to replace it out of warranty since they charge exorbitant prices to due so and don't authorize third-party repair. E-waste is a real thing, but they completely ignore this because "green electricity" is easier to get a headline for and doesn't affect their bottom line.
Iâ(TM)ve been a long time Android user and was dismayed by all the manufacturer environmental records. Apple rate along side the Fairphone (https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/reports/greener-electronics-2017/) on Greenpeaceâ(TM)s guide to green electronics. Apple is definitely not a perfect corporate citizen, but there are some things they are doing much better than the rest.
Apple could do more toward their own goal by easing up a little bit and using those resources to create a cheaper low end model of the phone. Have people buy a 95% purity-test phone instead of whatever Xiaomi or OnePlus are selling.
No amount of effort will get environmental zealots' approval anyway.
Just marketing words to make uninformed people feel better.
Everything costs to make and making things out of "green" things is not automatically greener. I had the same complaint about Incandescent vs LED bulbs. What is involved in each one? Most people just talk about the run time. Check out the worlds longest burning bulb.
https://www.popularmechanics.c...
LED's are made of plastic and plastic is a hydrocarbon, and they break down and expire and will go into land fills too. Most of them are engineered to only barely meet the very weak regulatory requirements to be energy efficient. Apple is no more green or honest than De Beers and blood diamonds.
The only objective with announcements like this are to win brownie points and nothing else. Apple can require whatever they want, their suppliers will just put on enough of a facade to look green so Apple can say they are green because there is a shiny new badge saying its green... green or not. Kinda like how Monsanto keeps staying in business under different names despite the destruction they have wrought aided entirely by regulatory agencies that claim to be there to protect us.
Any yes, people are dumb enough to believe it, you can most definitely fool most of the people most of the time. If you use the internet and do not see that one basic truth then you are part of that unfortunate majority.
Apple's a good example of corporatism, because they literally invented a tax dodging system whose name sounds like one of those made-up degrading sex acts. ("Double Irish With A Dutch Sandwich" sounds like you take two shots of whiskey, then slap two prostitutes with your penis at the same time.) But they're not a good example of being a good citizen, for the same reason.
The EU forced Ireland to shut the 'Double Irish' down in 2015 and they are now kicking the Irish in the nuts over the newer variants of it. Some of those have been shut down as well. The 'Dutch Sandwich' scheme was invented by Joop Wijn, dutch State Secretary of Economic Affairs, with the diligent help from a battalion of US corporate tax lawyers in 2003 (meaning that he was basically just the enabler aka. useful idiot). The EU is currently nut kicking the Dutch in order to get this loophole closed as well. It's also worth keeping in mind that Apple is not the only user of these schemes by a long shot. Practically every US multinational that does business in the EU dodges taxes through Holland, Ireland, Luxembourg and the UK among others with is why the UK Brexiting along with it's various tax haven territories would actually not be such an unwelcome thing to many other EU countries.
This is why monopolies are bad for the economy.
Monolithic stagnation. Even if they actually do go green it still stifles viable competition from finding even greener methods to make things.
Look at the automotive industry for instance... Vehicles could be modular by now along with so many other things even housing. The problem is that our economic models are not friendly to this, and neither are regulations either. The motor heads of the world have long proven then the Auto Industry is wasteful to the extreme AND that is is good business right now to be that way.
It's also worth keeping in mind that Apple is not the only user of these schemes by a long shot.
There's no shortage of sleazebags out there, but they are widely credited with inventing this scheme.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Being angry at someone because he likes his laptop.
All it does is force other consumers to move away from using green energy (switch to fossil fuels), because you are now using the green energy they used to use. e.g. Everyone used to use 20% green energy, 80% fossil fuels. Some company decides to buy up all 20% green energy for its own use so it can claim its energy consumption is 100% green. That forces everyone else to use 100% fossil fuel energy. And the net result is... 20% green energy, 80% fossil fuels - exactly the same as before this pointless gesture.
To truly increase the fraction of energy derived from green sources, you have to change the supply end of power generation. That means adding new green power sources, and shutting down fossil fuel plants.
E-waste is a real thing, but they completely ignore this
How on earth can you claim this?
Not only does Apple accept every product for free for recycling or resale (they will give you some credit if they can sell it again), Apple also carefully recycles each item themselves to extract as much material as possible.
In fact Apple has gone so far (in a keynote last year) as to say a stated goal is to eliminate the need for raw materials, and get all of the material they need for new devices from recycled ones!
Apple is the model for how all companies should behave with regards to e-waste.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Yes.
And you can read about it in the very same report.
https://www.apple.com/supplier...
Betcha the higher ups at (Cr)apple still drive/ride in limos, SUV's, take private jet trips, live in huge McMansions. Do as I say, not as I do.
If Apple was so concerned about what plastic is doing to the environment, perhaps it should make a phone that isn’t made of glass doesn’t require a thick plastic case for the vast majority of users. Apple has singlehandedly created and continues to fuel a massive market of third-party iPhone case makers, many of whom have much lower environmental standards and concerns that Apple alleges to possess. Apple’s self-righteous claims as a green company are overshadowed by the mess that it creates to support its ill-conceived product design.