The story behind Apple’s environmental footprint.
To accurately measure a company’s environmental footprint, you must look at the impact that company’s products have on the planet. Apple uses comprehensive life cycle analysis to determine exactly where our greenhouse gas emissions — all 10.2 million metric tons of them1 — come from.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing — including extraction of raw materials and product assembly — accounts for 38 percent of Apple’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
3,873,000 metric tons of
greenhouse gas emissions
Material use.
Because Apple designs smaller, thinner, lighter products, we do more with less material. MacBook Pro features a revolutionary unibody design, which replaces dozens of individual parts with a single piece of recyclable aluminum. And today’s 20-inch iMac uses 55 percent less material than its first-generation, 15-inch predecessor. That’s a material savings of 10,000 metric tons — the equivalent of 7200 Toyota Priuses — for every one million iMac computers sold.
Toxic substance removal.
Designing green products includes considering the environmental impact of the materials used to make them. From the glass, plastic, and metal in our products to the paper and ink in our packaging, our goal is to continue leading the industry in reducing or eliminating environmentally harmful substances.
The greatest environmental challenge facing our industry today is the presence of arsenic, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), mercury, phthalates, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in products. In keeping with our philosophy over the last decade, Apple is not waiting for legislation to ban these substances. Not only is every Mac, iPod, and iPhone free of PVC2 and BFRs, we are also qualifying thousands of components to be free of elemental bromine and chlorine, putting us years ahead of anyone in the industry. In addition, all MacBook Pro models feature displays with mercury-free backlighting and arsenic-free glass.
Responsible manufacturing.
Apple is committed to ensuring that working conditions in our supply chain are safe, workers are treated with respect and dignity, and manufacturing processes are environmentally responsible. View our Supplier Code of Conduct as well as our supplier audit reports at Supplier Responsibility.
*Internal cables only.
Transportation
Five percent of Apple’s greenhouse gas emissions are a result of transporting our products from assembly locations to distribution hubs in regions where our products are sold.
547,000 metric tons of
greenhouse gas emissions
Smaller packaging.
Efficient packaging design helps reduce the emissions produced during transportation. The packaging for the 13-inch MacBook Pro, for example, is 41 percent smaller than the previous-generation MacBook.
That means 50 percent more boxes fit on each shipping pallet, more pallets fit on each boat and plane, and fewer boats and planes are used — resulting in fewer CO2 emissions.
By reducing our packaging over 40 percent between 2006 and 2009, we ship 50 percent more boxes in each airline shipping container. That saves one 747 flight for every 32,000 units we ship.*
*Calculated using U.S. configurations.
Product Use
The use of our products generates 53 percent of Apple’s total greenhouse gas emissions.3
5,352,000 metric tons of
greenhouse gas emissions
Energy efficiency.
The majority of greenhouse gas emissions Apple accounts for are produced when you plug in our products and start using them. That’s why we design all our products to be as energy efficient as possible. Take Mac mini, for example. It uses as little as a quarter of the power consumed by a typical lightbulb,4 making it the most energy-efficient desktop computer in the world.5
Because Apple designs both the hardware and the software required for this kind of smart power management, we’re able to increase the efficiency of every product we make. In fact, Apple is the only company in the industry whose entire desktop and notebook product lines meet the strict energy efficiency requirements set by the EPA’s ENERGY STAR program. Learn more about energy efficiency
*Calculated while system is idle with display on; system has completed loading Mac OS X; the display is set to its full brightness. Assumes CO2e emissions generated from an average mix of power grids in the U.S. See our Product Environmental Reports for detailed power consumption information by product.
Recycling
One percent of Apple’s total greenhouse gas emissions are related to recycling.
90,600 metric tons of
greenhouse gas emissions
Product recyclability.
Apple’s approach to recycling begins in the design stage, where we create compact, efficient products that require less material to produce. And the materials we do use — including arsenic-free glass, high-grade aluminum, and strong polycarbonate — are highly valuable to recyclers.
Apple recycling programs.
Apple has instituted recycling programs in 95 percent of the countries where our products are sold, diverting more than 83 million pounds of equipment from landfills since 1994. In 2008, Apple recycled 33 million pounds of electronic waste, achieving a worldwide recycling rate of 41.9 percent — our best ever. (To calculate this rate, we use a measurement proposed by Dell that assumes a seven-year product lifetime. The weight of the materials we recycle each year is compared to the total weight of the products Apple sold seven years earlier.) We are committed to achieving an industry-leading recycling rate of 50 percent by 2010.
Responsible recycling.
All e-waste collected by Apple voluntary programs worldwide is processed in the region in which it was collected. Nothing is shipped overseas for disposal. Our recyclers must comply with all applicable health and safety laws, and Apple does not allow the use of prison labor at any stage of the recycling process. Nor do we allow the disposal of hazardous electronic waste in solid-waste landfills or incinerators.
Ready to recycle your old iPod, computer, or mobile phone? Get started with the Apple Recycling Program
*As percentage of weight of products sold seven years earlier.
Facilities
Apple’s facilities — including corporate offices, distribution hubs, data centers, and retail stores — account for 3 percent of our total greenhouse gas emissions.
275,718 metric tons of
greenhouse gas emissions
Facilities in the big picture.
Companies such as Dell and HP primarily report on their facilities as a gauge of their environmental impact. But switching off lights and recycling office waste aren’t enough. In this industry, the products we make represent the biggest impact on our environment. That’s why Apple focuses on product design and innovation. Even so, Apple has taken significant steps to lessen greenhouse gas emissions produced by our facilities worldwide.
Energy use.
Apple reduces energy use in our facilities in a number of ways. We have installed energy-efficient lighting and added motion sensors for automatic shutoff, saving over two million kilowatt-hours of electricity since 2006. We used enough renewable energy in 2008 to power our entire Austin facility and 25 percent of our Cork facility free from conventional grid power — eliminating thousands of metric tons of CO2e emissions. By the end of 2009, both our Cork and Elk Grove facilities will operate entirely on renewable energy. And, of course, we use energy-efficient Apple computers in all our facilities.
Employee commuter programs.
Apple provides its employees with alternatives to driving their own vehicles to work. Many employees take advantage of our public transportation incentives. And each day, up to six hundred Apple employees ride our free biodiesel commuter coaches. We estimate that these programs have eliminated 4 million miles of single-occupant car journeys. That's 7.2 metric tons fewer CO2e emissions every business day.
Learn how Apple lessens the impact of its products when in use
- Greenhouse gas emissions are calculated in accordance with guidelines and requirements as specified by ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. Calculations include emissions from production, transport, use, and recycling of Apple products, as well as emissions from Apple facilities and employee travel. Emissions from product use reflect power consumed over three years for handheld products or four years for Mac computers sold in the previous fiscal year.
- Excludes AC power cords.
- Calculation based on four years of use for a Mac and three years of use for an iPhone or iPod.
- Based on an incandescent 60W lightbulb.
- Claim based on energy efficiency categories listed within the EPA ENERGY STAR 5.0 database as of August 2009.
