Exactly a year ago, Apple was celebrating (deservedly) the fact that all of its operations are now powered 100% by renewable energy. This, of course, encompasses the actions taken directly by Apple in its campuses, data centers and physical stores around the world.
The Cupertino giant, however, did not stop there: in addition to this historic milestone, the company also pledged to encourage its suppliers to become more sustainable – or at least manufacture the gadgets Apple as cleanly as possible. Today, the company announced that it is not only achieving this, it has surpassed its own goals.
More precisely, Apple reported that almost doubled the number of suppliers that have agreed to operate only on renewable energy, including Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron (three major iPhone makers), among 41 other partners. As a result, the company’s supply chain will exceed the initial target of producing 4GW by 2020 by 1 gigawatt (GW).
As we said, this does not mean that suppliers will perform all of their operations (in addition to the production of Apple products) from clean sources, but it does indicate that the productions of iGadgets will follow Apple’s sustainable protocol. The vice president of environment, politics and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson, celebrated this further progress towards sustainability.
Every time one of our suppliers joins us in our efforts to tackle climate change, we move towards a better future for the next generation. We prioritize our suppliers with the same environmental standards that we observe and hope that our collaboration will show others what is possible. While we are proud of our announcement today, we will not fail to drive changes in our industry to support the clean energy transition that is taking place globally.
To address emissions from manufactured products, Apple and its suppliers have invested or purchased a mix of clean energy technology, including wind and solarApple also said it has invested, in the past two years, $ 2.5 billion in green bonds (Green Bonds), contributing to 40 environmental initiatives worldwide – making it the largest US company to allocate these bonds.
Such initiatives include projects that help the company cover its demand for electricity, as 66% of the renewable energy consumed by Apple comes from these ventures.
The Green Bonds they are also important for the number of research and environmental innovation projects they support. Among these are solar energy programs in Japan, an aquifer to conserve water in Oregon (USA) and the creation of a customized alloy for the manufacture of the new MacBooks Air and Macs mini, produced with 100% recycled aluminum.
