Apple Hits Record 30% Recycled Content Across All Products in 2025

iOS
1

Apple’s latest Environmental Progress Report highlights a new sustainability milestone: in 2025, 30% of all materials used across shipped products came from recycled content, the highest share the company has reported to date.

Key highlight

  • 30% recycled content across Apple products in 2025

  • Marked as a record level of recycled material usage in Apple’s supply chain

What it signals

This figure reflects Apple’s continued push toward:

  • Reducing dependence on newly mined raw materials

  • Expanding closed-loop recycling systems

  • Increasing use of recovered aluminum, rare earth elements, tin, and other components in devices

Broader environmental context

Alongside this milestone, Apple’s annual report typically tracks progress in areas like:

  • Carbon emissions reduction across manufacturing and operations

  • Energy transition to renewable sources in the supply chain

  • Device recycling programs and material recovery systems

  • Product design changes aimed at improving repairability and recyclability

Bottom line

The 30% recycled material figure is a significant marker of Apple’s ongoing shift toward integrating recycled inputs at scale, reflecting steady progress toward its longer-term environmental goals.

image
image800×420 62.8 KB

Apple’s 2025 Environmental Progress Report outlines a set of fairly aggressive sustainability milestones, with several “firsts” and full-scale transitions across materials, energy, and recycling systems.

:globe_showing_europe_africa: Key material milestones

Apple says it reached new highs in recycled content and materials usage:

  • 100% recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries

  • 100% recycled rare earth elements in all magnets

  • 100% recycled gold plating and tin solder in Apple-designed PCBs

  • 30% recycled content overall across all shipped products (record level)

It also completed a major packaging shift:

  • 100% fiber-based packaging, eliminating plastics across all product packaging

:high_voltage: Carbon and energy progress

  • Over 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions vs. 2015

  • Emissions stayed flat year-over-year despite business growth

  • Apple reaffirmed its Apple 2030 carbon neutrality goal

Energy initiatives include:

  • Suppliers procured 20 GW of renewable energy

  • Equivalent to 38 million MWh, powering ~3.4 million U.S. homes

  • Apple itself added 1.8 GW renewable energy for operations

:droplet: Water and waste reductions

  • 17 billion gallons of freshwater saved in 2025

  • Over 50% of withdrawn water replenished

  • All Apple-owned data centers certified under Alliance for Water Stewardship

  • Goal: 100% water replenishment by 2030

Waste reduction:

  • 600,000+ metric tons diverted from landfills

  • Apple Fifth Avenue became the first Apple Store to achieve TRUE Zero Waste Certification

  • 400+ supplier facilities enrolled in Apple’s Zero Waste program

:counterclockwise_arrows_button: Recycling and recovery systems

Apple also highlighted new infrastructure:

  • Cora: advanced electronics recovery line with higher material recovery rates using precision shredding and sensors

  • A.R.I.S.: AI-based sorting system for electronic waste, running on Mac mini hardware in pilot programs

  • Expanded use of robotic and automated disassembly systems

:puzzle_piece: Product-level example: MacBook Neo

Apple singled out the MacBook Neo as its most material-efficient device yet:

  • 60% recycled content overall (highest across Apple products)

  • New aluminum process reduces raw material use by ~50%

  • Anodization process achieves 70% water reuse rate

Bottom line

Apple is positioning 2025 as a year where sustainability shifts from partial adoption to system-wide industrial integration—especially in materials (metals and packaging), manufacturing processes (water reuse, aluminum efficiency), and recycling automation (robots + AI sorting).