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Briefing
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- Recycled Rare Earth Metals – Apple revealed on September 18, 2019 plans to use recycled rare earth minerals from undisclosed supplier to make Taptic Engine component in new iPhones
- Taptic Engine – Actuator that generates haptic feedback in smartphones, as if clicking physical button, first introduced in original Apple Watch and later integrated in iPhone 7
- Other Developments – Also working on projects that would enable company's own recycling robots and traditional recycling equipment to recover rare earth metals
- Existing Recycling Efforts – Recycles enclosures (outer built of electronics) recovered in trade-in programs to make new MacBook Air laptop computers, in addition to cobalt from old iPhone batteries into new smartphones
- Sustainable Sourcing – Can help company more sustainably source materials, given trade tensions between U.S. and China, which mines 80% of rare earth supply, though Apple said its decision to recycle is not related to China
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Accelerator
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Sector
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Consumer Durables, Information Technology, Mining and Natural Resources
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Function
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Supply Chain and Logistics
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Organization
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Apple Inc.
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Source
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Original Publication Date
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September 18, 2019
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