Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson and Apple CEO Tim Cook have been working tirelessly for over half a decade to significantly reduce their company’s carbon footprint while also setting the standard for not only Silicon Valley, but for major businesses as a whole. In 2018, Apple revealed that their Cuptertino, California headquarters is 100% operated on renewable energy from solar panels that are implanted into the building’s roof, plus it was announced that the company is looking to purchase and create their own renewable energy farms in the very near future.
While this is a great step forward, Apple’s iPhones, iPads, and other products still create plenty of waste in both their production and disposal, so what will Jackson and the rest of the Apple administration do to continue their quest to become completely waste free?
Lisa Jackson holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Tulane University and a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University, and has been Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives since 2013. Before joining the Apple ranks, Jackson served under President Obama as the administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (2009 to 2013), where she was responsible for creating efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, preserving air and water quality, all while leading educational initiatives to inform the public about the importance of conservation and renewable energy.
She has been able to take these skills into her role at Apple, as she now focuses on creating ways to make Apples retail locations and warehouses more energy efficient while also finding ways to make Apple products more environmentally friendly.
Although she has made considerable leeway in converting Apple into a green company, what will her next move be?
It seems that Apple will start with their phones and laptops. When Apple announced their newest phone models in the iPhone XS and XR, they also noted that the logic boards in these phones would be constructed from fully-recycled tin ore. This has been done in an effort to reduce the amount of tin that is mined from the Earth every year, and Lisa Jackson has stated that by using recycled tin ore in their new phones, Apple will prevent over 10,000 pounds of tin to be mined annually.
Along with this, Apple has also announced that their new Macbook Air and Mac Mini casings will be manufactured with 100% recycled aluminum, which is also a gigantic step forward in terms of material conservation. Jackson and Apple have also started a promotion where Apple users can return their old products to an Apple store to either recycle into new products, plus in some cases receive a store credit.
Jackson’s lead for Apple has most definitely started the charge for companies to help forge a cleaner world, but there are certainly more changes that can be made in terms of manufacturing and operations that can further their impact.
Do you think Apple has put enough effort towards environmental conservation? What do you think they should do next? Let us know in the comments below!