Tech giant is also boosting recycled rare earths, gold, and tin going into Apple products.

As a technology giant at the vanguard of the green transition, Apple Inc. is accelerating its work to expand recycled materials going into its famed devices, which includes a new 2025 target to use 100% recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries.

Last year, the company significantly expanded its use of key recycled metals, sourcing two-thirds of all aluminum, nearly three-quarters of all rare earths, and more than 95% of all tungsten in Apple products from 100% recycled material.

This rapid progress brings Apple closer to its aim to one day make all its products with only recycled and renewable materials and advances the company's 2030 goal to make every product carbon neutral.

"Every day, Apple is innovating to make technology that enriches people's lives, while protecting the planet we all share," said Apple CEO Tim Cook. "From the recycled materials in our products, to the clean energy that powers our operations, our environmental work is integral to everything we make to who we are. So, we'll keep pressing forward in the belief that great technology should be great for our users, and for the environment."

All metals recycling

"Our ambition to one day use 100% recycled and renewable materials in our products works hand in hand with Apple 2030: our goal to achieve carbon neutral products by 2030," said Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. "We're working toward both goals with urgency and advancing innovation across our entire industry in the process."

Apple has significantly expanded the use of 100% certified recycled cobalt over the last three years, making it possible to include it in all Apple-designed batteries by 2025.

In 2022, a quarter of all cobalt found in Apple products came from recycled material – up 13% from the previous year.

Critical to batteries used in most consumer electronics, including many Apple devices, cobalt has presented a significant human rights issue due to sourcing concerns from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Apple's transition to recycled cobalt for the batteries powering iPhones, Apple Watches, MacBooks, and many other products will ensure the tech company avoids the pitfalls associated with questionable sourcing.

Apple has also greatly expanded its recycling of rare earths, going from 45% in 2021 to 73% in 2022.

Since first introducing recycled rare earths in the Taptic Engine of iPhone 11, the company has extended its use of the material across its whole gamut of products.

As magnets are Apple's largest use of rare earths by far, the new 2025 target means nearly all rare earths in Apple products will soon be 100% recycled.

After rare earths, Apple has continued to improve its metals usage, seeking to recycle its gold plating as well as tin soldering.

Rigid boards, such as the main logic board, and flexible boards, like those connecting to the cameras or buttons in an iPhone, use gold plating. The company hopes to use 100% recycled gold for these plating needs by 2025.

Similarly, these circuit boards require the glue of the technological world – tin. As of 2022, 38% of all tin came from recycled sources. The company once again is aiming for 100% recycling by 2025.

Apple's work to pioneer new research and development for end-of-life disassembly and recycling has helped make this progress possible. Through extensive efforts, including partnerships with leading research institutions and the Material Recovery Lab in Austin, Texas, Apple engineers and experts are developing innovative ways to give materials in Apple products new life and helping inform design decisions that support disassembly and recovery.

Innovations in recycling

Using its specialized iPhone disassembly robot, Daisy, it separates batteries from other components and enables specialty recyclers to recover cobalt and other materials, including lithium.

Since 2019, Apple estimates that more than 11,000 kilograms of cobalt have been recovered from batteries extracted by Daisy and then returned to the secondary market. In addition to cobalt, Daisy also helps recover rare earth elements, which are largely lost through traditional electronics recycling processes.

This is just one example of how Apple's innovations in recycling and disassembly can drive industrywide change. Along with Daisy, Apple's Dave, deployed with a recycling partner in China, can help further accelerate the recovery of rare earth elements by disassembling Taptic Engines.

Apple has also begun deploying overhead projector-based augmented reality systems to recycling partners. This system guides the disassembly of devices, including MacBook and iPad, by projecting video imagery directly onto a work surface.

The company has also published an Apple recycling guide for global recyclers to maximize the efficiency of material recovery while safeguarding human health and safety.

As recycled and renewable materials can contribute to lowering each product's carbon footprint, enhanced recovery is also bringing Apple closer to its ambitious goal to be carbon neutral across its entire supply chain and the life cycle of every product by 2030.