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May 2, 2007

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Steve Jobs promises “A Greener Apple”

Posted May. 2, ’07, 11:01 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Apple » Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs's greener appleIt was pretty much unprecedented when Steve Jobs treated us to his thoughts on music back in February; now the Stevester is at it again, taking on those who have criticized Apple for its lack of environmental awareness (cough, Greenpeace, cough). In another—say it with me, folks—unprecedented move, Steve not only lays out what Apple has done in the past and is doing today, but what they plan to do in the next couple years.

It is generally not Apple’s policy to trumpet our plans for the future; we tend to talk about the things we have just accomplished. Unfortunately this policy has left our customers, shareholders, employees and the industry in the dark about Apple’s desires and plans to become greener. Our stakeholders deserve and expect more from us, and they’re right to do so. They want us to be a leader in this area, just as we are in the other areas of our business. So today we’re changing our policy.

Now I’d like to tell you what we are doing to remove toxic chemicals from our new products, and to more aggressively recycle our old products.

Steve goes on to point out that Apple has not only eliminated the use of CRTs (and via that, the use of lead), but has also complies fully with the European Union’s new RoHS restrictions (which most famously notably affected the standalone iSight, old Airort Extreme, and eMacs in Europe), and reduced the use of PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in their packaging and products.

Sprinkled in between Jobs’s environmental bullet points were tantalizing tidbits about what to expect from Apple’s pipeline later this year, such as LED-backlit displays:

We plan to introduce our first Macs with LED backlight technology in 2007. Our ability to completely eliminate fluorescent lamps in all of our displays depends on how fast the LCD industry can transition to LED backlighting for larger displays.
In addition to their environmental benefits, LED displays can offer higher brightness and better color representation. We’ve been expecting to see them in Apple portables in the future, but it appears that future is even closer than we thought.

Steve also spend some time discussing Apple’s recycling program, something for which they’ve come under particular fire from environmental groups. Based on a metric proposed by Dell, which involves measuring the percentage of total weight recycled compared to the total weight sold seven years ago, Apple is currently recycling 9.5% of e-waste, which is pretty close to both Dell and HP’s figures of roughly 10%. Apple, however, forecasts that they’ll be recycling 30% of their e-waste by 2010, while Dell and HP have announced no plans to grow this percentage. I have some questions about whether or not a seven year product lifespan is reasonable in this age where some people swap their iPods on an annual basis, but I suspect that it’s more accurate for Apple’s products, which in my anecdotal experience, see longer lifespans than comparable PC products.

Steve leaves off with a tag on the future:

Today is the first time we have openly discussed our plans to become a greener Apple. It will not be the last. We will be providing updates of our efforts and accomplishments at least annually, most likely around this time of the year. And we plan to bring other environmental issues to the table as well, such as the energy efficiency of the products in our industry. We are also beginning to explore the overall carbon “footprint” of our products, and may have some interesting data and issues to share later this year.
Will this data appease Greenpeace and other environmental groups? Hard to say, but Jobs is clearly jockeying to position Apple as not only an exemplar but a leader in environmental responsibility. It’ll be interesting to see what the response to this information is, and what Apple will tell us in the future about their environmental progress. But, I have to say that it certainly makes me feel better about Apple as a whole.

So, having now covered both issues of DRM and the environment, what’s next for Stevie J.? Might he finally consider starting a regular blog somewhere, so we can hear about his latest organic food experience, or just where he gets those dashing black turtlenecks? I agree with El Macalopo on this one: despite the enjoyment I get from Fake Steve Jobs, I’d far rather read a blog by the genuine article.


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