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Water Consumption by Apple
• In 2017, Apple used about 1 billion gallons of water directly, a 59 percent increase
compared to 2016
• The company launched Clean Water Program in 2013 and since more than 13,6 billion
gallons of water have been saved by suppliers
• Cooling systems in company’s date centres can reuse water up to 35 times
• Despite the initiatives above, water usage by Apple data centres, retail and corporate
facilities have been consistently increasing over the last four years, as illustrated in
Figure 11 below.
Figure 11 Water usage by Apple Inc (in millions of gallons).
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• Apple Park, a campus in Cupertino uses 75% recycled non-potable water. Apple campus
in Austin, Texas, irrigates its drought-tolerant plants using a 600,000-gallon rainwater
cistern.
Waste Reduction and Recycling by Apple
• Apple offers recycling programs in 99 percent of the countries it operates and the
company has diverted more than 508 million pounds of electronic waste from landfills
since 2008.
• In 2016 the company introduced Liam, a line of robots that can disassemble an iPhone
every 11 seconds and sort its high-quality components so they can be recycled,
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Source: Environmental Responsibility Report (2018) Apple Inc.
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• In 2017, U.S. product packaging used on average 29% less plastic compared to the
previous year
• In 2017, the multinational technology company’s 22 supplier facilities were certified as
Zero Waste, including all iPhone final assembly sites
Carbon Emissions by Apple
• Apple reduced its overall carbon footprint from 29.5 million metric tons in 2016 to 27.5
million metric tons in 2017. As it is illustrated in Figure 12 below, the company’s
renewable energy program made a massive contribution to reduce the volume of CO2
emissions to a significant extent.
Figure 12 Total CO2 emissions by Apple
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• The company offers employees more than 550 electric vehicle charging ports for free, an
increase of 67 percent compared to the previous year to encourage the usage of electric
vehicles
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Source: Environmental Responsibility Report (2018) Apple Inc.
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Apple and Sustainable Sourcing
• All the fibers Apple uses in product packaging are 100% responsible sourced
• The company partnered with The Conservation Fund to protect 36,000 acres of
sustainable forest in North Carolina and Maine and more than 13,000 metric tons of
wood was harvested responsibly.
• Apple aims to contribute to transition up to 1 million acres of forest, across five southern
provinces, into responsible management by 2020
Apple Supplier Responsibility
• In 2017 Apple trained more than 3 million supplier employees on their rights, including
local labour laws, and Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct
• The multinational technology company has launched a health program that aims to
empower female employees to improve their health awareness. The program aims to train
1 million supplier female employees by 2020.