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Curbing ewaste – reason why latest iphones no longer come with charger, accessories

By Hauwa Ali

Apple’s newest iphones comes with no charging adapter or EarPods in the box, although charging cable is included (USB-C to Lightning cable for the iPhone 12), but Apple says it wants buyers to supply their own charging bricks to plug into the wall.

According to Lisa Jackson, vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives at Apple, the company’s reasons are straightforward, “Customers already have over 700 million Lightning headphones, and many customers have moved to a wireless experience,”

“There are also over 2 billion Apple power adapters out there in the world, and that’s not counting the billions of third-party adapters. We’re removing these items from the iPhone box, which reduces carbon emissions and avoids the mining and use of precious materials.

“Taken all together, the changes we’ve made for iPhone 12 cut over 2 million metric tons of carbon annually; it’s like removing 450,000 cars from roads every year.” She said at the phone’s launch.

Some accessory makers say the move is welcome, offering customers more choice. And Apple should be commended for making a transparent effort to decrease its environmental footprint. But sustainability experts are skeptical, saying that Apple’s efforts make only a small impact on the growing electronic waste crisis.

The world generated 53.6 million metric tons of electronic waste in 2019, according to the Global E-Waste Monitor 2020, and
That number will continue to spike up to 74 million metric tons by 2030, almost double the amount recorded in 2014.

E-waste, which includes batteries, appliances, phones, screens, and cables, might seem like junk at the end of its lifecycle to the people tossing it out, but those items contain traces of valuable components like iron, copper, and gold.

The report says the value of raw materials in global e-waste from 2019 sits at around $57 billion. Much of this e-waste ends up in developing countries like Ghana, Nigeria and Thailand, and it has spawned an industry of people scavenging for these valuable parts to make a living. But the e-waste also contains toxic materials.

“A total of 50 tons of mercury and 71 kilotons of [brominated flame retardant] plastics are found in globally undocumented flows of e-waste annually, which is largely released into the environment and impacts the health of the exposed workers,” the report says.

Apple routinely touts its efforts to reduce toxic components in its hardware. In its 2020 Environmental Progress Report, the company says it spent four years researching and developing an alternative to polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a material used in the manufacturing process of power cords. The resulting material isn’t toxin-free, but Apple claims it has a “lower toxicological and ecological risk.” It often points out these advancements, like “arsenic-free display glass,” and “Beryllium-free” components in environmental reports about its products.
Yet Kuehr says it’s important to put the impact of the removal of the charger and EarPods from the latest iPhones and Apple Watches into perspective.

“The percentage of chargers coming from tablets, smartphones, et cetera is 0.1 percent of the total e-waste increase,” he said. “This makes up roughly 54,000 metric tons of e-waste generated. If you consider only Apple’s portion, it’s probably half or less. At the maximum, you could probably say it’s 25,000 metric tons, or 0.05 percent of the total e-waste increase annually.”

The lack of a charging adapter in the box doesn’t mean people won’t need them anymore, Kuehr says. People may use what they have available at home, but many will still buy adapters from Apple. Those will now need to be packed and shipped separately from the phones, thereby increasing the environmental consequences.

Sara Behdad, a sustainability researcher at the University of Florida, agrees. “Apple’s analysis is based on this impression that some users really don’t need chargers and EarPods, because they already have them. Some users don’t. Then they have to purchase them, and that requires packaging and extra transportation.”

The relationship between a charger and an iPhone isn’t necessarily one-to-one, either. Behdad says she’s used more chargers than the number of phones she’s owned. While this is anecdotal, and Behdad says there need to be surveys and more research to make any conclusive statements, it’s quite possible people will buy more than one charger from Apple or other accessory makers.

Reducing the need for multiple chargers, and the fact that GaN enables smaller-sized electronics, means it could make a small impact in reducing electronic waste. “This means less plastics, less ceramics, less metal wires, less processing, less reprocessing to deliver the same function,” expert say.

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