Apple plans to use low-carbon and zero-carbon aluminum for the iPhone SE, produced using an innovative new smelting process that the company helped develop through its $4.7 billion investment in green bonds.
As part of Apple's green bond projects, the company has invested $4.7 billion in research projects since launching in 2019. This work has now led to a new smelting technology that Apple says it will use to produce aluminum without direct carbon emissions. explained Lisa Jackson, Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives:
Apple is committed to leaving the earth better than we found it, and our Green Bonds are an important tool to advance our environmental efforts. Our investments advance the breakthrough technologies we need to reduce the carbon footprint of the materials we use, even as we transition to using only recyclable and renewable materials in our products to conserve the earth's finite resources.
Apple buys aluminum from Elysis, a company that says it is "behind the world's first direct carbon-free aluminum smelting process." The process, which it says is "the first commercial-purity primary aluminum on an industrial scale," produces oxygen instead of greenhouse gases. Research into the process was supported by Apple's original investment partnership with Alcoa, Rio Tinto, and the governments of Canada and Quebec in 2018. The results were used in the production of the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Apple: Innovation in green aluminum smelting
As an extension of this original work, Elysis has produced the new aluminum at its industrial research and development center in Quebec using hydroelectric power. Vincent Christ, CEO of Elysis commented:
This is the first time aluminum has been produced at this commercial purity level, with no greenhouse gas emissions and on an industrial scale. The sale to Apple confirms the market's interest in aluminum produced using our groundbreaking ELYSIS carbon-free smelting technology. Today's announcement proves that Elysis, a joint venture between Alcoa and Rio Tinto, has been able to turn an idea into reality. We are excited to work with Apple on this advancement that has the potential to transform the way aluminum is produced.
Apple says this new process builds on the progress the company has made in reducing the carbon impact of manufacturing its products. And its green bonds - "among the largest in the private sector" - will continue to be used to develop renewable energy sources. This includes Apple's data center in Viborg, Denmark, which is powered by the "world's largest onshore wind turbines." (Image: Apple)
