Its planet-heating air pollution shrank by 800,000 metric tons final yr in comparison with 2023, a couple of 5 p.c drop. Wanting again over the previous decade, Apple says its international greenhouse gasoline emissions have fallen by greater than 60 p.c. That’s no simple feat, particularly now because the AI arms race pushes other tech companies’ emissions greater.
Apple says its international greenhouse gasoline emissions have fallen by greater than 60 p.c
Procuring renewable vitality, designing extra sustainable merchandise, and pushing its suppliers to observe swimsuit are key pillars of Apple’s local weather plans. The corporate says its suppliers averted near 24 million metric tons of greenhouse gasoline emissions final yr via renewable vitality purchases and beneficial properties in vitality effectivity.
On high of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, Apple has to grapple with tremendous potent fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-GHGs) that come from making semiconductors and flat-panel shows. The corporate says that each one of its direct show suppliers have dedicated to abating no less than 90 p.c of F-GHGs from services used for Apple merchandise. Twenty-six of Apple’s direct semiconductor suppliers have made the identical dedication, though Apple hasn’t clarified how large of a bit that’s of its complete provide chain for laptop chips.
The corporate additionally used extra recycled supplies final yr, including as much as almost 1 / 4 of the supplies it shipped in its merchandise. Greater than 80 p.c of the uncommon earth parts shipped in Apple merchandise — used primarily in magnets for telephones and different units — got here from recycled sources in 2024 in comparison with 75 p.c the earlier yr. Round 99 p.c of tungsten, 71 p.c of aluminum, 53 p.c of lithium, 40 p.c of gold, and 76 p.c of cobalt in its merchandise got here from recycled sources final yr, Apple stated. Till Might 16, the corporate is providing a ten p.c low cost on equipment to prospects who deliver an eligible item to one among its shops for recycling.
Apple nonetheless produced 15.3 million metric tons of gross carbon dioxide emissions in 2024, roughly equal to the air pollution from 40 gas-fired power plants over a year. The corporate considers 2015 its baseline yr for measuring progress, when it produced 38.4 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.