apple

• • In 2016, e-waste reached 44.7 million metric tonnes, according to the National Geographic. 
  • Electronics have a big eco footprint, meaning their manufacture consumes a lot of energy and water, along with valuable and scarce resources. 
  • Apple is ‘committed to protecting the planet’ by focusing on recycled and renewable materials, clean electricity and low-carbon shipping. 
  • This is working towards bringing their emissions to net zero across their entire carbon footprint. 
• EFFECTIVENESS: Emissions Reduction Mission

  • Apple has reduced its overall greenhouse gas emissions by more than 55% since 2015. 
  • 22% of materials shipped in products came from renewable sources in 2023. 
  • 20% reduction in product transportation emissions compared to 2022. 
  • In 2023, 56% of the cobalt shipped in Apple batteries came from recycles sources, more than double from the year before. 
• • Cobalt is critical to the renewable energy transition. 
  • It is a component of lithium batteries that power electric vehicles, store energy from solar, wind and other renewable sources. 
  • Global demand for cobalt will increase 60% above 2017 levels by 2025. 
• INEFFECTIVENESS: Cobalt Mining

  • The DRC produces more than half of the world’s supply of cobalt. 
  • Method of cobalt extraction comes with a cost on the environment, because of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the fossil fuels used in the process. 
  • Intersectionality with social issues, whereby children as young as 7 are forced to work in hazardous conditions and breathe in the cobalt dust that is associated with lung disease. 
  • Miners work in unsafe tunnels liable to collapse.