Apple is working with its suppliers to better the environmental landscape in China, and now all 14 of its final assembly sites in the country are compliant with UL’s Zero-Waste to Landfill validation.
Apple has announced a significant commitment by one of major suppliers, Lens Technology, to run its Apple-related operations solely on renewable energy. This unprecedented commitment, combined with zero-waste compliance from all final assembly sites, furthers Apple’s efforts to help manufacturers lower their carbon footprint and reduce waste in China.
Lens Technology is the first supplier to make a clean-energy commitment for all of its Apple production, and will meet its goal through an unprecedented power purchase agreement with local wind projects. Wind energy will cover 100% of the energy consumed producing Apple products at Lens facilities by 2018, avoiding nearly 450,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.
Apple has been working with suppliers to help transform the environmental landscape in China, and is proud to announce all 14 of its final assembly sites in the country are now compliant with UL’s Zero-Waste to Landfill validation. The UL standard certifies all of their manufacturing waste is reused, recycled, composted or, when necessary, converted into energy.
Since the program began in January 2015, the sites have diverted more than 140,000 metric tons of waste from landfills.
“We want to show the world that you can manufacture responsibly and we’re working alongside our suppliers to help them lower their environmental impact in China,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. “We congratulate Lens for their bold step, and hope by sharing the lessons we’ve learned in our transition to renewable energy, our suppliers will continue to access clean power projects, moving China closer to its green manufacturing goals.”
Lens Technology has committed to power all of its glass production for Apple with 100% renewables by the end of 2018. Lens currently has two Apple manufacturing facilities in Changsha, Hunan province.
“Our power purchase agreement is the first of its kind in southern China and we hope it will serve as an example for other companies looking to transition to cleaner, more economical sources of power,” said Lens CEO Zhou Qunfei. “We’re pleased to be the first supplier to commit to covering all of our Apple production with renewable energy, and proud to source from local Hunan wind farms to power our facilities in Changsha.”
Through its clean energy program, Apple will partner with suppliers in China to install more than 2 GW of new clean energy in the coming years, avoiding over 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution in the country between now and 2020. Foxconn committed in October to construct 400 MW of solar, starting in Henan province, by 2018. The manufacturer is now well on its way to constructing the first 80 MW of that commitment.
Earlier this year, Foxconn final assembly sites at Guanlan and Taiyuan were the first in China to receive UL’s Zero-Waste to Landfill validation. With the recent addition of 12 manufacturing sites, all of Apple’s final assembly production in China is now zero-waste compliant.
“We applaud innovative companies, like Apple, that are leading by actively reducing the environmental impact of manufacturing operations,” said UL President and CEO Keith Williams. “Achieving zero waste is an extensive effort that requires close coordination across all facets of a company’s operations, especially when the commitment is global.”
Apple has taken significant steps to protect the environment by transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy. Today, the company is powering 100% of its operations in China and the U.S., and more than 93% of its worldwide operations with renewable energy.
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