Apple celebrates major progress on ambitious company goal: 'We're incredibly proud'

Apple is touting its progress toward an ambitious environmental goal of being carbon neutral across its entire footprint by 2030. In its annual Environmental Progress Report, the company claimed a 60% reduction in its harmful emissions from 2015 levels.

Apple also said it avoided 41 million metric tons (45.2 million tons) of pollution across all scopes. The bulk of these savings have come from adjustments to its supply chain. That global supply chain generated 17.8 gigawatts of clean energy in 2024 and avoided 21.8 million metric tons of emissions (24 million tons), a 17% increase from the previous year.

Additionally, Apple is hailing its successes in reducing water use and promoting recycling. The company has saved 90 billion gallons of freshwater since launching an initiative in 2013 and saved 600,000 metric tons of waste (a little over 661,000 tons) from landfills.

"We're incredibly proud of the progress we're making toward Apple 2020," said Lisa Jackson, vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives.

While any measures corporations take to reduce their pollution footprints are commendable, consumers should be aware not to take claims at face value. Greenwashing is a common tactic used by some of the planet's worst polluters. For example, Amazon has been hit with a class action lawsuit over deceptively labeled paper products.

For its part, Apple is one of the most significant contributors to the growing e-waste problem, given how frequently it releases new products. Every year, millions of tons of unwanted electronics end up in landfills.

A U.N. report estimated that 60-90% of all e-waste is discarded illegally. The problem is especially acute in developing countries, where workers are exposed to harmful materials, including lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic, per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Apple is accused of planned obsolescence — that is, purposefully shortening the life of its products to encourage customers to buy new ones. Though Apple denies utilizing planned obsolescence, the company did settle a 2017 class action lawsuit over claims it deliberately slowed down older iPhones.

Apple has introduced a trade-in program for older devices and will recycle non-Apple products for free. While this is a step in the right direction, the company still has much work to do.