Technological advances have made us be more and more productive, or to have the time in the way we want. However, the environmental impact is a real problem. We produce a large amount of technological waste that is a headache for governments and large companies.
The North American company Apple implemented in 2018 a robot capable of recycling up to fifteen different iPhone models. Until then, the process was done manually. Later a robot joined the team, which, although it was faster than a human, was not as competent as this and has been called Daisy. Apple has a high commitment to the environment, in fact, a lot of recycled material is used in all its devices, but they aim to ensure that soon, everything that leaves their factories is made entirely with recycled materials. They have their sights set on the year 2030, in which they do not intend to make CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
This is Daisy
It is a robot that has been designed and developed by Apple’s own engineers. It has a system that makes it able to disassemble and separate the different components of fifteen iPhone models. The articulated arm is its strong point, with agility and pinpoint precision , it positions the different parts of the phone so that other blushing parts can begin the disassembly process. Such is the success of Daisy, that recently a new partner who has been given a male name, Dave, has joined. Both are capable of detaching displays , removing batteries, and haptic motors. Between them they can disassemble 400 iPhones per hour.
The figures leave no room for doubt
Each electronic device has small amounts of very interesting metals, such as gold. Apple robots are capable of working very efficiently. Gold and other metals that contain 1 ton of iPhone, is the equivalent of removing 150 tons of material in nature, which represents significant savings. Gold and those other metals can be conveniently reused for new devices.
During 2020, and according to a report by the company, the recycling of devices prevented 39,000 tons of waste from ending up in illegal landfills , where they are later sent to developing countries and which cannot carry out the correct procedures, falling these materials in the hands of individuals. The company launched a few years ago a procedure by which you can deliver your old device to an Apple Store and get a discount in the next one on the purchase of your next device. In this way, it is guaranteed that the device falls into good hands and is conveniently recycled, while the customer gets an interesting discount.
The controversy of the charger
Last year 2020, the company announced that it was not going to include the charger in the box of the new iPhone, the 12 series. He has put forward environmental reasons , since it is an article that we all have at home. Who does not take advantage of a charger from one year to another? Device chargers have a large amount of metals and plastics , which must be processed and subsequently recycled, the latter does not always happen if the consumer is not properly aware. This decision was very controversial at the time, as some users felt cheated by not having a charger inside the box.
However, the figures for Apple have left no room for doubt. It has achieved that the size of the box is much smaller, and that, therefore, when making shipments from the factories to the distributors, the freight is better used. A reason of pure physics, where before a certain number of boxes entered, now it does so by 70% more . The result is obvious, reduction of the carbon footprint and toxic emissions to the environment. Both Daisy and Dave are a starting point to achieve a much friendlier environment and prevent our digital waste from falling into the wrong hands.
