Apple pulled 2,204 pounds of gold out of old iPhones and iPads

[Batu69]

Even the trash is expensive in Cupertino

Apple says its recycling program has recovered thousands of pounds of rare metals from discarded phones, tablets and computers.

The Cupertino slinger of iStuff said in its annual Environmental Responsibility Report [PDF] that when it breaks down returned products, it comes into possession of huge stocks of gold, silver and other metals.

 

The tally for 2015 includes:

• 2,204 pounds of gold
• 6,612 pounds of silver
• 44,080 pounds of lead
• 23,101,000 pounds of steel
• 189,544 pounds of cobalt
• 13,422,360 pounds of plastics

In total, Apple says that its recycling programs have scrapped out 61,357,800 pounds of metals and plastics that would have otherwise gone into landfills. Some of those materials, such as lead, would also pose a health threat if they were to leach into water supplies.

 

Apple also plans to improve its recycling initiatives to extract even more recyclable material from its products, saying its "Liam" disassembly robots would be able to further break down iPhones and extract the reusable metals from various components.

 

Apple's recycling program has been a central part of the environmental initiatives it pushes to help keep its corporate image polished. With iPhones selling at a clip of around 24 million a month, the company generates a huge pile of waste from old, taken-back devices, and as such Tim Cook and Co are stepping up their efforts to recycle the old hardware and extract the valuable metals used in the components and circuitry.

 

Though Apple has bigged up its recycling initiatives, critics have argued that the design and assembly of Apple hardware contributes to the waste problem by making the devices difficult to repair and forcing customers to toss out their old phones and tablets when they break or are replaced.

 

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[dMog]

well now if ms did this.... thee would the haters telling us this more proof that ms is the devil