Apple has sued GEEP Canada, its former recycling partner, for allegedly selling old Apple devices that were supposed to be dismantled.
Several global companies are aiming for a carbon-neutral future. Apple is one company that is a part of this movement. It is becoming more and more aware of the implications of the devices that it constantly churns out annually. As such, it wants to force its consumers to join the efforts for a more eco-friendly future.
Unfortunately, despite its efforts to implement strategies to achieve the goal, there are other entities that are taking advantage.
Apple sues its recycling partner
Apple, a multi-trillion company, earns from constantly selling new devices to its customers. Naturally, the company also has the responsibility of managing the waste that its consumers produce. As such, Apple has campaigns to collect discarded devices to be put up for recycling.
The company has several partners that do the job for them. The list includes GEEP Canada. Unfortunately, Apple has filed a case against it for allegedly violating its agreement. A portion of the claim says,
“At least 11,766 pounds of Apple devices left GEEP’s premises without being destroyed – a fact that GEEP itself confirmed.”
If the allegations are true, this will be a big blow to GEEP Canada’s credibility. Devices that end up in their dismantling factories are there so that they come out in parts and not as whole devices. According to The Logic’s report, up to 500,000 Apple devices were sent to GEEP Canada between January 2015 and December 2017.
Upon auditing, Apple found out that 18% of the devices were still accessing the internet using cellular networks. However, that figure doesn’t even include other devices that use cellular radio. In other words, there could be more devices out there that were supposed to be dismantled already.
Heads will roll in GEEP Canada
GEEP Canada maintains that the leaks of the supposedly dismantled device weren’t a company directive. Instead, GEEP Canada points to a couple of employees that allegedly carried out the misdeed.
Apple, on another side, doesn’t believe GEEP Canada’s stance. The company believes that these so-called employees are at the senior level.
Apple is easing its way into a more eco-friendly future. The first domino had already fallen when Apple didn’t ship a power brick with the Apple Watch. Users still got their charging wires. However, no wall charger came with the package. Eventually, Apple is expected to scrap the Apple Earbuds from the iPhone 12.
It remains to be seen if they will do the same with the power brick.
Image from James Lewis/ Unsplash