Apple's sustainable forests now offset paper used in product packaging
Apple's efforts to achieve a net-zero impact on the world's virgin fiber are paying off, as the company is now protecting or has created enough sustainable forestland to cover all paper packaging products.
Late last week, Apple said the Forest Stewardship Council, a body responsible for creating eco-friendly forestry standards, certified approximately 320,000 acres of working forest the company is supporting in China, reports Xinhua.
With the new certification, Apple is now protecting or has created enough sustainable forest to offset fiber use related to product packaging. The tech giant is further protecting virgin fiber by developing smaller package designs and increasing the ratio of recycled paper used in its products.
According to an email from Apple, two-thirds of the newly certified forest is owned and managed by Maoyuan Forestry in Hunan province, while the remainder is managed by the state-owned Qinlian Forestry Company in Guangxi, the report said. A separate report from Environmental Leader notes the World Wildlife Fund worked with both Chinese companies to gain FSC certification by implementing forest management plans and training employees to identify High Conservation Value Forest.
Apple's Chinese forestry program, accomplished in partnership with the WWF, debuted in 2015 as a commitment to create or transition one million acres of responsibly managed forest by 2020. The company points out its first goal, to increase responsible management of working forests by 300,000 acres, was reached in two years.
"We found that the Chinese were willing to be wonderful partners, both on the private- and public-sector side because they have a real appreciation for the forest resource," Lisa Jackson, VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, said in a statement to Greenbiz. "We're finding that China is very fertile soil to grow green programs."
Apple's forestry initiative took root in early 2015 with the purchase of 36,000 acres of vulnerable forestland in Maine and North Carolina through The Conservation Fund's Working Forest Fund. In March, yields from the two states hit 13,000 metric tons of wood, good enough to cover about 30 percent of Apple's product packaging needs in 2015.
The recent FSC certification arrives as Apple continues work toward a net-zero environmental balance. In 2015, the company announced its China operations were 100 percent carbon neutral. A year later, Apple began to apply pressure on its Asian supply chain to commit to clean energy agreements.
Late last week, Apple said the Forest Stewardship Council, a body responsible for creating eco-friendly forestry standards, certified approximately 320,000 acres of working forest the company is supporting in China, reports Xinhua.
With the new certification, Apple is now protecting or has created enough sustainable forest to offset fiber use related to product packaging. The tech giant is further protecting virgin fiber by developing smaller package designs and increasing the ratio of recycled paper used in its products.
According to an email from Apple, two-thirds of the newly certified forest is owned and managed by Maoyuan Forestry in Hunan province, while the remainder is managed by the state-owned Qinlian Forestry Company in Guangxi, the report said. A separate report from Environmental Leader notes the World Wildlife Fund worked with both Chinese companies to gain FSC certification by implementing forest management plans and training employees to identify High Conservation Value Forest.
Apple's Chinese forestry program, accomplished in partnership with the WWF, debuted in 2015 as a commitment to create or transition one million acres of responsibly managed forest by 2020. The company points out its first goal, to increase responsible management of working forests by 300,000 acres, was reached in two years.
"We found that the Chinese were willing to be wonderful partners, both on the private- and public-sector side because they have a real appreciation for the forest resource," Lisa Jackson, VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, said in a statement to Greenbiz. "We're finding that China is very fertile soil to grow green programs."
Apple's forestry initiative took root in early 2015 with the purchase of 36,000 acres of vulnerable forestland in Maine and North Carolina through The Conservation Fund's Working Forest Fund. In March, yields from the two states hit 13,000 metric tons of wood, good enough to cover about 30 percent of Apple's product packaging needs in 2015.
The recent FSC certification arrives as Apple continues work toward a net-zero environmental balance. In 2015, the company announced its China operations were 100 percent carbon neutral. A year later, Apple began to apply pressure on its Asian supply chain to commit to clean energy agreements.
Comments
Can you explain how planting trees is "nothing more" than unethically cooking the books?
1) You do know their headless Macs are the least popular Macs, right?
2) Even if you count all their desktop Macs, that's still just a blip compared to their notebooks, and then consider that those are just a fraction of their iPad sales, and that it's all just a spec compared to the Phone. Along with the Apple Watch they all have displays.
3) 20 years ago there where 5K displays with 200+ PPI that were ISP with LED backlights? Of course not. You realize that was the year Jobs came back to Apple, right? Your CPU will last just as long—if not longer—than a display so it's disingenuous to say that it won't last. You simply don't want to use it. 7 years is pretty pretty much the long average for a display as people move to better, bigger, and brighter displays. This trend will not change.
4) Stop using batteries is an asinine statement. From digital watches, to smoke detectors, to automobiles, to the iPhone, and countless other devices the battery is part of our daily lives. This desire for always-ready, portable power will only increase over the years. I don't even understand how you could say such a thing.
5) Why does Apple to have to make a wired peripherals? If you want wired then buy wired.
6) If you really wanted to deal with e-waste you'd simply not buy new stuff, but you're not going to do that because it's impossible. To live is to consume.
7) You really think it feasible that the Apple Watch has a plug to charge the device with Lightning instead of using inductive charging?
Apple is wasting their time. Nature is taking care of itself, thank you very much, and certainly without Apple's help.
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12226
Just what is it that you feel unnecessary to know about the effects of rising atmospheric CO2 levels that you could have gleaned if you had bothered to read the articles on your site link?
More CO2 >> more planet greening >> good
...is not a valid argument.
The sheer number of phones that replaced PCs saved the planet from tens of millions of tonnes of landfill alone. Containing batteries that saved the planet from millions of tonnes of defunct power brick landfill.
What does your world look like on your CRT monitor?
Wireless is a waste of energy? So you’re using a wired telephone, are you. Riiiight.
Don’t do drugs, kids.
I truly appreciate what Apple is doing right now.
However, I just loved the Origami style packaging of the iPod 3rd Generation. It was the first Apple product I bought and was probably the classiest packaging I had ever seen.
The later iPods had colour pics on the box, but the 3rd Generation was iconic with just a greyscale colour scheme!
I guess it was part of the extravagance that you got buying an Apple product.
On another note, I wonder why Apple shipped the 5c in a plastic box. Was it actually cheaper to manufacture than a cardboard box?