Credit: Mobile Fun
Or not …
The Web is littered with headlines like that above – images too.1,2
A smart phone contains around 30 milligrams of gold.3 Starting to sound like a lot of phones. In fact, a metric tonne is 1,000,000,000 milligrams. So a metric tonne of gold is equivalent to:
1,000,000,000/30 = 33,333,333.333 …
Let’s call it 33.3 million iPhones.
Gold price varies, but at this time, (15:58 Monday 25 April GMT) 30 milligrams of gold is worth $1.20.4 Hard to make a profit, disassembling that many phones for such a small return on each.
On the other hand, a refurbished iPhone, depending on model, sells for hundreds of dollars.5,6
Time for a rethink ...
https://motherboard.vice.com/read/apple-does-not-melt-iphones-into-gold
__________
1 Fortune: “Apple Has Recovered Millions In Gold From Your Old iPhones”, http://fortune.com/2016/04/15/apple-gold-iphones/
2 Independent: “Apple recovered one tonne of gold by recycling iPhones last year”, http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/apple-iphone-products-devices-gold-recycling-environmental-report-a6987841.html
3 Fairphone: https://www.fairphone.com/2016/01/27/how-we-got-fairtrade-certified-gold-in-the-fairphone-2-supply-chain/
4 goldcalc.com: "Calculated Scrap Gold Value", http://www.goldcalc.com/scrap_gold_value.php
5 GoodPriceMobile: http://www.goodpricemobile.com/prices-drop
/ almost nothing about Apple harvests gold iPhones story is true viral headline Apple recycled $40 million worth gold last year extracted from iPhones reported true story was everywhere major mainstream outlets tech-focused very good sites story uniformly misreported Apple’s Environmental Responsibility Report article getting the story right Apple goodness of its heart monetary incentives old iPhones iPads took them apart melted down roughly 30 milligrams of gold in each phone 2,204 pounds of gold recyclers cheque check credit million pounds Apple pocketed $40 million recycling Liam recycling robot disassembling 1.2 million iPhones per year simple math maths Apple collected 33.3 million iPhones recover gold alternate reality refurbish resell iPhones hundreds of dollars a piece developing nations Apple destroy them harvest roughly $1 worth of gold per device Apple recycled 90 million pounds e-waste recycling programs e-waste iPhones Apple products e-waste 2,204 pounds gold worth $40 million current gold prices read Apple’s report 90 million pounds of e-waste recycling programs 71 percent total weight products sold seven years earlier Apple’s report working with over 160 recyclers around the world Apple paid independent recyclers recycle old electronics Apple products required by law overall monetary loss how the industry works electronics manufacturers sell products United States required e-waste ewaste e waste recycling laws enacted in 25 states laws different in each state Apple recycle Apple products require manufacturers recycle certain amount of pounds of e-waste market share overall weight of products they sell manufacturer responsibility National Center for Electronics Recycling manufacturer market share recycle program compliant with the law contract independent recycler recycle Minnesota electronics recycling iFixit reuse repair electronics recycle recyclers cheque check credit million pounds percentage recycling themselves overall total Apple iPhone recycling buyback programs e-waste e-waste collected Goodwill municipal recycling programs specific electronics recyclers Apple stores mailback program recycling themselves Apple electronics manufacturer electronics recycler iPhones CRT TVs old servers computer monitors oldest iPhones breaking down smelting old TVs manufacturers recycle electronics themselves Apple disassembling other manufacturers’ televisions gold old PCs servers very little gold in an iPhone phones tablets overall recycling requirements many state laws vast majority electronics recycled CRT televisions 80 percent of the total weight CRT TV pounds of phones tablets recycled refurbished sold Apple 90 million pounds of e-waste iPhones Apple Washington State Apple products total weight of e-waste recycled Oregon Apple products recycling arduous dangerous e-waste recycling centers often go up in flames lucrative independent recyclers stay in business make money manufacturers Apple pay recyclers keeping selling metals recovered manufacturer consumer recycling program reselling products cost recycler costs disassembling transporting gold content offset costs Apple banking $40 million recycling operation paying large amount of money comply with laws manufacturers recyclers sign non-disclosure agreements how much this is costing Apple e-waste recycling outstanding questions I asked Apple recycling programs legal obligation various state laws e-waste recycling Apple products recycled Apple Liam recycled Apple good faith participant in many states’ recycling programs, and said that the company has also set /
No comments:
Post a Comment