In recent years, the incredible over-production of bigger (and smaller) and better electronic gadgets, has triggered huge debates over e-waste dump sites and exposure of workers to toxic elements. A major target of criticism was Apple, as their technology has built-in elements that cannot be easily removed and recycled properly by the users. Now, they plan to make a “green” change.
In their latest announcement, the maker of iPhone and iPad declares that they will no longer use two extremely harmful chemicals in the process of assembling of their gadgets– benzene and n-hexane. This move was triggered by a petition that was initiated by environmentalists a few months ago, questioning the health and safety issues associated with using these chemicals in the manufacturing process.
As a response to the allegations, Apple conducted a thorough investigation and found no sign of a breach of safety regulations, nor did they establish any threats to health of their workers. Nevertheless, they decided to ban the use of benzene and n-hexane in the assembly process.
Apple has made huge steps towards being more green and environmentally friendly. Not only that they are powering their data centres with renewables, but they also they initiated a big campaign for recycling of their “old” products. Removing chemicals from their manufacturing is also not new. Just recently, they announced that they are no longer using PVC, mercury and brominated flame retardants in their i-technology.
I guess, with the new iPhone 6 coming up, and the severe competition from NOKIA and Samsung, the tech giant would not like to make any potential customer angry, especially if that is an environmentalist, who can trash the company’s green campaign in a matter of seconds.
But, one thing has to be admitted, and that is that the company’s efforts to do good and protect the environment from additional damage as much as possible, are really admirable. We can only wonder what their next green move would be.
Image (c) Apple
