Apple Relying on China to Meet Renewable Energy Targets

California-based tech major, Apple is expecting more cooperation with China on clean energy as it released its 2019 Environment Report that outlines its climate change solutions ahead of Earth Day 2019 on April 22.

In the “Environmental Responsibility Report”, the company has set an ambitious goal to “make products without taking from the Earth” and is dedicated to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions from its business operations.

The company had previously announced that 44 of its global suppliers have committed to 100 percent renewable energy for the production of Apple products, Because of this partnership between the tech company will exceed its goal of bringing 4 GW of renewable energy into its supply chain by 2020, with over an additional gigawatt projected within that timeframe.

Among the 44 suppliers, “the majority of clean supply chain, clean energy suppliers are in China in terms of both attaining the clean energy goal and cooperation in the use of safer materials and smarter chemistry,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives at an event promoting the company’s environmental initiative.

As one of Apple’s biggest manufacturers and markets in the world, China is critical to success in all of Apple’s environmental initiatives, she said. “I think it’s important to know Chinese manufacturers can be partners in the innovation because the Chinese manufacturers have real expertise and applications which they can bring to the table.”

In order to promote a circular economy, Jackson said Apple is working with a number of partners including the China Association of Circular Economy to enable the movement of materials in a way that not only “protects the environment, protects innovation, but also moves us forward in reusing materials”.

Apple announced that it will quadruple the number of outlets in the US to recycle used iPhones returned by US customers, which will be disassembled by its recycling robot, Daisy, which can disassemble 15 different iPhone models at the rate of 200 per hour, according to Apple.

“We need to do a lot more work in China. We need to work really closely with governments to move materials around,” she added. “I would expect that we’re going to have some unique recycling solutions for China, and that would be great.”

It’s right for the Chinese government to remain “vigilant about making sure material really doesn’t end up being dumped”, she noted. “We don’t ever want that to happen with any of our products. So we have to continue to work to find a way that allows us to move forward and is respectful.”