Apple aims for 100% renewable energy supply chain

Apple aims for 100% renewable energy supply chain

Computing and digital technology giant Apple has announced its aim to make its supply chain entirely powered by renewable energy sources.

The company's supply chain currently consumes around 60 times more electricity than its corporate operations and Apple believes that tackling the output and emissions of its extensive supply chain is the natural next step in its overall drive towards exclusively using renewable energy sources and reducing its eco footprint.

In 2014 Apple successfully converted its entire American operations to renewable energy sources such as wind, solar power, fuel cells, hydropower, geothermal and biogas, including its retail stores, offices and data centres. Currently 87% of Apple's operations worldwide are renewably powered.

Apple also hopes to make its supply chain more sustainable by buying forests and maintaining them in partnership with conservation charities rather than buying paper and wood pulp from independent firms that may engage in deforestation practices. In this way the company hopes to ensure that all paper in its supply chain comes from sustainable forests, including around one million acres of forest in China.

Apple currently sources over 80% of its packaging from sustainably-managed forests or recycled material.

"Apple is clearly leading by example ‒ one that we hope others will follow," says Larry Selzer, CEO of the Conservation Fund, which has formed a partnership with Apple to preserve 36,000 acres of forest in Maine and North Carolina. "The loss of America's working forests is one of our nation's greatest environmental challenges. The initiative announced today is precedent-setting."