iPhone News And Rumors: Apple Gained $40 Million From Recycled Gadgets
Recycling is undoubtedly a good environmentally-conscious practice for companies.
Just recently, the Cupertino-based company has publicly announced how their gadgets recycling program allowed them to rake in (literally) almost a metric ton of gold from recycled devices and parts from electronic products like iPhones and iPads last year worth at an estimated $40 million as per its Environmental Responsibility Report.
Out of the 90 million pounds of trash that went through its e-waste recycling program, the Silicon Valley giant was able to extract 61 million pounds of reusable materials including gold albeit in relatively small amount. However, gold is currently worth $1,200 per troy ounce as per latest trading value in the market which makes the precious one of Apple's valuable finds in its mountain-pile of thrown-away electronic devices according to CNN Money.
The take-back initiatives also enabled the tech company to recover 6,612lbs of silver, 2,953,360lbs of copper and 101,000lbs of steel. The company's environmental recycling program allows its loyal fans to trade-in their old gadgets in exchange for discounts off Apple's new product releases.
"We work hard to keep electronic devices out of landfills so that the precious resources they contain can be reused. And we want to ensure that these devices are recycled properly so they don't pose a threat to human health or the environment," Apple explained in its official report as quoted by Telegraph UK.
In addition, the technology firm is also utilizing a highly advanced robotics technology to enhance its current recycling efforts. With the so-called 'Liam' robot prototypes, Apple is able to efficiently disassemble iPhones from their headquarters in California and the Netherlands.
"Existing recycling techniques, like shredding, only recover a few kinds of materials and often diminish their quality. So we invented Liam, a line of robots designed to disassemble 1.2 million phones a year, sorting all their high-quality components and reducing the need to mine more resources from the earth," said Apple in a statement as quoted by Fox News.
The iPhone maker further noted, "We hope this kind of thinking will inspire others in our industry."
