More than a ton of gold worth $40 million was collected by Apple's "Renew Program," with Liam, the robot that helped with the recycling.
In its annual “Environmental Responsibility Report,” the company said that in 2015, it collected 2,204 pounds of gold worth $40 million from recycled iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
Apple's recycling program generated 90 million pounds of e-waste, 60 million of which was recyclable. The volume of gold collected was very small, but because gold is an expensive material, it was the most valuable of all the materials collected from recycling.
[su_button url=”https://www.secnews.gr/102774/apple-se-fbi-parakalw-xakarete-mas-ksana-kai-deikste-mas-pws-to-kanate/” target=”blank” style=”stroked” background=”#c419387″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” icon_color=”#ffffff”]Apple to FBI: Please hack us again and show us how you did it.[/su_button]
In consumer electronics, gold is used because it is an excellent conductor of electricity and is highly resistant to corrosion.
Apple also said it collected 23 million pounds of steel, 13 million pounds of plastic, 12 million pounds of glass, 4.5 million pounds of aluminum, 3 million pounds of copper, and 6,600 pounds of silver.
The tech giant has been ramping up its recycling program, and the recent 'Renew Program' allows users to recycle Apple devices at any Apple store. The company says it uses most of the materials it extracts from recycled phones, eliminating the need to re-mine those metals and materials.
Apple recently began using a new experimental line of robots called “Liam,” which disassembles 1.2 million phones a year. The Liams operate in California and the Netherlands.
[su_button url=”https://www.secnews.gr/103273/to-iphone-sou-tha-liksei-se-3-xronia-dilwnei-i-apple/” target=”blank” style=”glass” background=”#c419387″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” icon_color=”#ffffff”]Your iPhone will expire in 3 years… Apple says![/su_button]
Watch Liam disassemble the iPhone in this really interesting video:
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYshVbcEmUc” width=”640″ height=”380″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7o0qA4L4So[/su_youtube]
