Apple announced Thursday that it is opening a new lab in Austin, Texas. The company said the facility would focus on finding new recycling processes. It came on the day Apple released its 2019 environment report.
Expanding Recycling Efforts
The new Material Recovery Lab is a 9,000-square-foot- facility. Apple engineers will work with academics to find recycling solutions.
Apple also announced that it is quadrupling the number of US locations where customers can send their old iPhone for disassembly. The process is conducted by Daisy, the company’s recycling robot. Daisy can disassemble 15 different iPhone models at a rate of 200 per hour. In total it can disassemble 1.2 million devices in a year. The robot recovers materials like cobalt, aluminium and tin. Apple recycles the materials back into the manufacturing process.
Environment Report Released
In its environment report, Apple said that it had refurbished over 7.8 million Apple devices. The firm said it ultimately helped to divert over 48,000 metric tons of electronic waste from landfills.
Lisa Jackson, Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives:
Advanced recycling must become an important part of the electronics supply chain, and Apple is pioneering a new path to help push our industry forward. We work hard to design products that our customers can rely on for a long time. When it comes time to recycle them, we hope that the convenience and benefit of our programs will encourage everyone to bring in their old devices.