Apple's Earth Day Leadership in 2017

Leading corporations are helping to show the way forward this Earth Day and no company has come further in recent years than Apple. 

They were slow off the mark but since Tim Cook took over as CEO in 2011 and hired former EPA administrator Lisa Jackson in 2013 Apple has made amazing progress. Jackson is Apple's VP of environment, policy, and social initiatives. In the last four years Apple has significantly improved their environmental sustainability performance while ameliorating working conditions and transparency.

In 2017 Apple led the Greenpeace Tech Company Rankings and strengthened its competitive advantage by showing leadership in recycling, clean energy, emissions reduction, waste management and water stewardship.

Apple Leads Greenpeace Tech Company Rankings

For the third year in a row Apple is at the top of Greenpeace's environmental rankings for tech companies in 2017.  Apple led platform operators with a score of 83 percent on Greenpeace’s Clean Energy Index. Facebook came in second with a score of  and Google 67 percent and Google came in third with 56 percent.

Apple's final grade was an A for energy transparency, renewable energy commitment, energy efficiency and mitigation, and renewable procurement. The company received a B for advocacy. Google got all A's except for a B in the transparency category, however as noted above they did not fare well in the clean energy component.

Apple's Apps for Earth Initiative Raised Awareness and Funds for WWF

Apps are big business and a partnership between Apple and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) funneled some of these revenues to ecological causes.  Given the number of apps and the volume of demand  using apps to generate revenues for the environment is a boon. As of June 2016 there are approximately 2.2 million apps available and 2 million in the Apple App Store. In 2015, global mobile app revenues amounted to $41.1 billion. In 2020, consumers are projected to spend over $101 billion on mobile apps via app stores.

Extracting Value from Recycling - Apple's e-waste Management (Video)

Apple has mined a small fortune from its own waste in both dollars and social capital. While Apple has only recently become a sustainability leader, they have been focused on recycling for many years dating back to the time when Steve Jobs was still at the helm. The problem of waste is increasingly serious but Apple is ahead of the curve and leading the way forward.

The volume of waste keeps increasing while many landfills are rapidly nearing capacity. Smart businesses need to follow Apple's lead as we anticipate a more stringent regulatory regimes in the form of Extended Provider Responsibility regulations.

Apple's Growth Streak Has Ended but its Sustainability Leadership is Still Going Strong

Apple's growth streak may have come to an end but as a mature company its sustainability leadership is going stronger than ever. In fact Apple is poised to double down on sustainability. Every product has a life cycle and Apple's products are no different. Smartphones may have reached market saturation as the global smartphone market has shrunk for the first time. Despite the dropping demand for its premiere product line,  this corporate giant will continue to be a powerful sustainability leader for years to come.

Apple's Renewable Energy Investments in China

On October 21, 2015 Apple announced that it is ramping up its renewable energy investments in China. The company is working with its Chinese suppliers to produce 2.2 gigawatts of solar power and other renewable energy. This move will decrease Apple's carbon footprint by an estimated 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas as more of its suppliers rely on renewable energy between now and 2020.

Apple Makes Sustainability Investments in China

Apple is making China greener and expanding their market presence. From solar farms, to forests and greener supply chains Apple is making some serious sustainability focused investments in China.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is presently in China. He announced his arrival on his new Weibo account (the Chinese equivalent of Twitter). He said that he is in China to launch, "innovative environmental programs." As of Tuesday morning Cook already had 400,000 followers.

Apple Proves its Never too Late to Go Green

Apple's successful adoption of a host of sustainability initiatives demonstrate that it is never too late to go green. The conventional wisdom suggests that to be recognized as a sustainability leader you have to get there first and be green to the core. However, Apple has made some profound changes in recent years which have taken the company from the fringes where it was singled out as a sustainability laggard to its current incarnation as a sustainability leader.

A 2013 Green Market Oracle article asked whether Apple's sustainability efforts where too little too late. It would appear that the answer to that question is apparently not.

Video - Massive Apple and First Solar Partnership

Corporate behemoth Apple is making good on its embrace of sustainability with a new $848 million 3000 acre solar project powered by panels from First Solar. This will triple Apple's supply of solar energy. This electricity will power its offices in California, along with 52 retail stores and a data center. This is a good deal for Apple as there are no upfront investment costs and they will get electricity cheaper than they would have through the existing grid. However as Apple CEO Tim Cook explained this is about more than just ROI, renewable energy projects are consistent with Apple's values. As Cook has said repeatedly Apple's new corporate ethos is about "leaving the world a better world than we found it." Under Cook Apple is aligning the company with the values of its customers including environmental sustainability.

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Apple's Sustainability Leadership

Apple has long been a technological leader and now they are morphing into a sustainability leader. On September 9, Apple unveiled a couple of new iPhones, a smartwatch device and a payment system. This is an important launch for Apple as its market share is declining. In 2012, it had a dominating 25 percent share of the smartphone market. As the demand for greener electronics grows, Apple understands that holding and capturing market share necessitates an increased emphasis on social and environmental responsibility.

Apple has produced some of the world’s greenest mobile phones. They are also a leading force in cloud computing, which is powered almost entirely by renewable energy. Now they are increasing their efforts to expand their sustainability initiatives.