Taking Action for a Sustainable Future: A Closer Look at Apple's Environmental Initiatives

Over the past two centuries, the industrial revolution and human activities have significantly contributed to increased carbon emissions and drastic changes in our climate. In the last two decades, we are already witnessing the adverse effects of these changes, such as rising temperatures and frequent floods in various parts of the world. If we continue on this path, the Earth's temperature could rise by 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre -

industrial levels. Such an increase would result in extreme weather conditions like heatwaves, droughts, water scarcity, and devastating forest fires.

Picture showing forest fire

Addressing this critical situation has been a priority for numerous organizations since 1990. However, it was the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016 that emphasized the urgent need for a stronger response to reduce carbon emissions. The agreement aims to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Source: United Nations -Sustainable development goals

In this blog post, we will explore the four-step approach organizations are taking to tackle carbon emissions across the value chain of the organization. Before delving into specific examples, let's examine the essential steps that every organization should undertake to achieve its carbon reduction goals.

Below is the overview of the four-step approach for a Manufacturing value chain.

Step 1: Assessing Carbon Footprint

To begin their sustainability journey, organizations must report their current carbon footprint. This assessment involves accounting for emissions across three scopes:

Scope 1: Direct Emissions

These emissions result from an organization's direct activities, such as emissions from its own office or from its manufacturing processes.

Scope 2: Indirect Emissions (Owned)

These emissions are generated through the consumption of electricity, steam, and gas, which an organization owns.

Scope 3: Indirect Emissions (Not Owned)

These emissions are associated with an organization's end product use, product supply chain, and employee travels, but are not directly owned by the organization.

Step 2: Establishing Sustainability Targets/Goals

Organizations commonly set two types of goals to drive their sustainability efforts:

Goal 1: Carbon Neutrality

This goal entails achieving a balance between the amount of CO2 released by an organization and the equivalent amount removed from the atmosphere. Achieving carbon neutrality involves reducing consumption and utilizing removal methods to offset emissions.

Goal 2: Carbon Positivity

In addition to carbon neutrality, organizations can strive for carbon positivity by removing additional CO2 from the atmosphere, going beyond the neutral point.

Step 3: Identifying and Implementing Solutions

Once sustainability goals are set, organizations must identify and implement solutions across the value chain to reduce carbon emissions. This step may involve various initiatives and strategies tailored to their specific operations and industry. Some examples include:

• Embracing Renewable Energy: Transitioning to 100% renewable energy sources for all office buildings, stores, and data centers.

• Sustainable Product Design: Redesigning products to reduce emissions during manufacturing and product use.

• Sustainable Packaging: Innovating packaging design to minimize waste and environmental impact by identifying sustainable packaging materials.

• Carbon Offsetting: Investing in nature-based solutions to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

Step 4: Tracking Progress and communicate transparently

To ensure continuous improvement in emissions reduction, organizations must track their sustainability initiatives and publish transparent reports on their progress. Annual sustainability reports provide valuable insights into an organization's achievements, challenges, and future commitments.

Apple's Journey Towards Carbon Neutral

Let's now focus on Apple, one of the world's largest technology companies, and their journey through Steps 1 to 4 outlined above:

Logo Source: Apple Inc

Step 1: Carbon Footprint Assessment

Apple's carbon emissions primarily stem from Scope 3, which constitutes 99% of its overall emissions. Within Scope 3, 65% of emissions originate from their vendors' manufacturing plants, 24% from product use, and 9% from the product supply chain. In comparison, Scope 1 and 2 emissions account for only 1%.

Source: Apple sustainability report 2022

Step 2: Sustainability Target

Apple has set an ambitious target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. This means that by 2030, all products sold by Apple will have a net-zero impact on the environment. To accomplish this, Apple plans to reduce carbon consumption by 75% and remove the remaining 25% from the atmosphere.

Step 3: Apple Carbon neutral initiatives

To work toward its carbon neutrality goal, Apple has implemented various initiatives, including:

• Transitioning to Renewable Energy: All of Apple's retail stores, corporate offices, and data centers are powered by 100% renewable energy sources.

• Sustainable Product Design: Apple has redesigned certain products to minimize emissions during manufacturing and during product usage. For example, their transition from Intel processors to their own M1 processors in MacBooks has improved the battery life and performance of the product thus reducing emissions in that product category by 8%.

• Robots to recover crucial materials: Apple recycles rare earth elements like Gold, cobalt, tungsten, etc., these materials are recovered using robotics technology. Apple patented three robots Dave, Taz & Daisy for recovering rare materials from the used products.

Source: Apple.com - Apple's Daisy robot recovers rare earth elements while disassembling the products

• Recycled materials: Apple made a significant environmental commitment by incorporating recycled aluminum into their latest product lineup, including the Apple Watch 7 series, SE, and Macbook Air. This initiative has successfully mitigated a remarkable 68% of the carbon footprint associated with aluminum usage.

• Sustainable Packaging: Apple has made significant strides in sustainable packaging design, exemplified by the AirPods Pro packaging, which is 70% smaller than previous versions.

• Packaging Size Reduction: By eliminating power adaptors from packaging, Apple has been able to accommodate 70% more shipments, resulting in a reduction of Two million metric tons of CO2 emissions. This reduction is equivalent to taking 500,000 cars off the road annually.

• Suppliers Renewable energy transition: Apple made tremendous progress toward the goal of transitioning its manufacturing supply chain to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030. As of March 2022, 213 of Apple's manufacturing partners in 25 countries have committed to 100 percent renewable energy for Apple production.

• Carbon Offsetting: Apple invests in nature-based solutions to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, contributing to its target of removing 2.5% of CO2 emissions.

Step 4: Progress Tracking and Transparency

Apple reported avoidance of 23 Million metric tons of CO2 in 2021 through their enterprisewide sustainability initiatives. Apple diligently tracks its sustainability initiatives and releases an annual sustainability report, providing transparency regarding its progress and future commitments.

Conclusion:

The urgent need to combat climate change requires organizations to take decisive action toward reducing carbon emissions. By following a four-step approach—assessing their carbon footprint, setting sustainability goals, implementing solutions, and tracking progress—organizations can make significant strides in their environmental initiatives. Apple's commitment to sustainability, as exemplified by its carbon neutrality target and various environmental initiatives, serves as an inspiring example for others to follow. Together, we can create a more sustainable future for generations to come.

If you are a sustainability solution provider with ambitions to expand into the European market, we invite you to contact SKALYNX for a meaningful discussion. We are eager to explore potential collaborations and support your journey to making a positive impact on Europe's sustainability landscape. Reach out to us today to initiate a productive conversation!