Recycling, Refurbishing & Renewables: Apple’s Carbon Goals

With more than two billion active devices and a billion paid subscriptions across its services, Apple is one of the world’s most recognisable technology companies.

The Cupertino firm is also leading the transition to a greener technology industry with its commitment to using recycled and renewable materials in its devices.

Apple has been named 30th in Sustainability Magazine’s Top 250 World’s Most Sustainable Companies 2025.

Apple 2030 is the company’s mission to reduce its global carbon footprint across its operations and supply chain.

Its goal is to become carbon neutral across its entire value chain by 2030, including transitioning to 100% clean electricity.

In 2020, Apple achieved its goal to become carbon neutral for its own corporate operations and in 2024 it reduced its overall greenhouse gas emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 by more than 60% compared with its 2015 base year.

Led by CEO Tim Cook, the company focuses on decarbonising its supply chain by helping its suppliers source renewable energy and by shifting away from fossil fuels and increasing energy efficiency in its own facilities.

Lisa Jackson, Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives for Apple, says: “At Apple, we are constantly innovating to make the world’s best technology while reducing our impact on the environment."

“That means taking urgent steps to fight climate change and working collaboratively with our suppliers and local communities. So we’ll continue to do our part to protect the planet – and build a better future for generations to come.”

Using renewable materials

Apple’s long-term target is to use only recycled or renewable materials in its products and packaging.

It aims to transition to 100% recycled cobalt, tin, gold and rare earth elements in components including circuit boards and batteries by the end of 2025.

Apple has been redesigning its products to be less carbon intensive by reducing its reliance on mined resources and moving to low-carbon suppliers.

For example, Apple’s iPhone Air is made with 35% recycled content, including 80% recycled titanium in the device and 100% recycled cobalt in the battery.

It is also working towards removing plastics from its packaging by 2025, shifting to 100% fibre-based packaging.

It is supporting its second and third party vendors in their transitions to fibre-based packaging, which impacts both Apple’s footprint and other companies that the vendors supply.

Apple says that it ensures the fibre it sources comes from recycled sources or responsibly managed forests and it must be able to be broken down to pulp in mixed-paper recycling streams.

Apple’s trade-in service

The durability and circularity of Apple’s products are a main priority for the company.

It employs rigorous methods to test its devices for water resistance and durability against realistic activities in daily life.

Apple designs its products with repairability in mind, in part by making its iPhone batteries easier to replace while not compromising safety or security.

It has expanded the number of components that can be recovered or refurbished, extending the lifespan of the raw materials and contributing to a circular economy.

Apple offers a trade-in service where consumers can return their devices and receive credit towards a new one.

After evaluating a returned device, Apple can refurbish it and sell it to another consumer, which reduces the carbon footprint of the product per year of its life.

In 2024, Apple sent 15.9 million devices and accessories to new owners through its refurbishment schemes.

If a device cannot be refurbished, Apple can recycle the components which reduces waste and allows the minerals and materials to serve the next generation of products.

This reduces the reliance on mining for new materials and cuts down emissions from the supply chain.

“Advanced recycling must become an important part of the electronics supply chain, and Apple is pioneering a new path to help push our industry forward,” Lisa says.

“We work hard to design products that our customers can rely on for a long time. When it comes time to recycle them, we hope that the convenience and benefit of our programmes will encourage everyone to bring in their old devices.”