More than 300 of Apple’s manufacturers have now committed to using 100% clean energy in their production for the tech giant, the company said last week.
Apple’s “Supplier Clean Energy Program” now represents 90% of its direct manufacturing spend following recent commitments from more than 50 additional producers.
The announcement brings the company closer to its goal of being carbon-neutral across its products by 2030, it said. That goal includes Apple’s global supply chain and the lifetime use of its devices. Apple is also eyeing a 75% cut in total carbon emissions by 2030.
Some 65% of the emissions tied to Apple’s products result from supplier manufacturing in its Scope 3, or indirect, footprint, according to the company’s latest sustainability report. Over the past two years, Apple and its suppliers have worked to triple the amount of renewable electricity in the company’s supply chain.
With help from a multi-billion dollar green bond offering last year, the device-maker has put up money of its own to help suppliers transition to clean energy. It has invested in solar and wind projects in China and Japan amounting to nearly 500 megawatts, and plans to invest in more, per Apple’s sustainability report.
The company has been carbon neutral in its own operations since 2020, it said.
The same day that Apple announced new supplier clean energy commitments, the company also unveiled its first carbon-neutral products in its Apple Watch line of devices. It called the milestone “a major step in the company’s journey” toward its 2030 goals.
Driving a 75% reduction in emissions for each of the carbon-neutral devices were both design changes and clean energy use, according to Apple.
Specifically, the company’s criteria call for manufacturing processes to use 100% percent clean electricity and 30% recycled or renewable material, while no more than 50% of the products can be shipped by air.
Apple has also replaced leather watchbands with a textile called FineWoven, which is made from 68% post-consumer recycled material and has “significantly lower emissions compared to the more carbon-intensive leather,” according to the company.
