Delving into the sustainability reports of these tech giants reveals a stark reality. Despite their commitments, none of them come close to matching the strides taken by Apple. Let’s consider e-waste, an area where Apple’s efforts are notable. The company claims to have directed over 40,000 tons of discarded devices toward recycling instead of landfills. While specifics about the recovery rate remain undisclosed, this figure is impressive. Samsung, on the other hand, appears to have collected only a quarter of Apple’s total, with approximately 80 percent of that figure being suitable for reuse.
In comparison, Xiaomi, the third-largest mobile player in 2022, reported directing 4,500 tons of e-waste to recycling. This figure surpasses the fourth-ranked company, Oppo, which managed a mere 195 tons. Transsion, the parent company of TECNO and Infinix, has pledged to run recycling programs. It’s crucial to bear in mind that, during 2022, the WEEE Forum projected that up to 5.3 billion mobile devices would become obsolete, essentially transforming into trash.
Apple’s transparency extends to emissions from supplier factories, even though it outsources manufacturing. Instead of shifting responsibility, the company secured commitments from numerous suppliers to employ 100 percent renewable energy. Presently, Apple’s supply chain boasts 13.7GW of renewable energy, with an additional 6.3GW on the horizon. Samsung, while planning to transition all its business sites to 100 percent renewable energy by 2027, currently relies on green power for 31 percent of its needs. Xiaomi has not made a firm commitment to renewable energy, and Oppo does not anticipate reaching its carbon emissions peak until the following year.
Apple’s Repairability Challenge
