Apple said it would use recycled cobalt in batteries by 2025 as a part of its efforts to make all its devices carbon neutral by the end of the decade.
Apple said it targets to use 100 percent recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries by 2025.

Magnets in Apple devices will use entirely recycled rare earth elements by 2025.

All Apple-designed printed circuit boards will use 100 percent recycled tin soldering and 100 percent recycled gold plating.

In 2022, Apple significantly expanded its use of key recycled metals, and now sources over two-thirds of all aluminum, nearly three-quarters of all rare earths, and more than 95 percent of all tungsten in Apple products from 100 percent recycled material.

The company’s use of 100 percent certified recycled rare earth elements has greatly expanded in the last year as well, going from 45 percent in 2021 to 73 percent in 2022.

All Apple-designed printed circuit boards will use 100 percent certified recycled gold plating by 2025. This includes rigid boards, such as the main logic board, and flexible boards, like those connecting to the cameras or buttons in iPhone.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said: “From the recycled materials in our products, to the clean energy that powers our operations, our environmental work is integral to everything we make and to who we are.”

By 2025, the company will use 100 percent certified recycled tin soldering on all Apple-designed printed rigid and flexible circuit boards. In recent years, Apple’s use of recycled tin has expanded to the solder of many flexible printed circuit boards across Apple products, with 38 percent of all tin used last year coming from recycled sources.

Magnets in Apple devices will use recycled rare earth elements, and in-house designed printed circuit boards will use recycled tin soldering and gold plating.

Apple is pushing to become carbon neutral through its entire supply chain and the life cycle of every product by 2030.

Most cobalt is produced as a by-product of copper or nickel mining, but artisanal miners in southern Congo exploit deposits near the surface that are rich in cobalt.

A quarter of all cobalt used in Apple products came from recycled material in 2022, up from 13 percent a year earlier, Apple said.

It sources over two-thirds of all aluminum, nearly three-quarters of all rare earths, and more than 95 percent of all tungsten in its products from recycled material.