Apple ‘goes all in’ on aluminum materials

In the Environmental Progress Report posted last night, Apple introduced many of its new achievements in using recycled materials, expanding the scale of renewable energy use, and approaching the goal of carbon neutrality across the company’s entire supply chain by 2030.

The highlight of this announcement is that the company “puts all its efforts into aluminum materials”. According to Apple, aluminum can be continuously recycled without losing its physical properties or durability, making it an ideal material for a circular economy model. Producing recycled aluminum also consumes only 5% of energy compared to mining and smelting primary aluminum from bauxite ore. This directly reduces the carbon emissions associated with the device case by more than 90%. Most importantly, Apple has mastered the technology, considered a pioneer in methods of converting post-industrial scrap into high-performance aluminum alloys.

MacBook Neo is considered the clearest proof of this “all-out” commitment. This is Apple’s laptop model with a record rate of using recycled materials, up to 60% using up to 60% recycled materials. The production process has also reduced the amount of aluminum consumed by 50% through more precise casting and cutting (CNC) techniques, reducing the amount of excess aluminum during machining. The company also applies a closed loop at the factory where aluminum scrap generated during the CNC process is immediately collected, melted and fed into the next case production process at the same facility, reducing transportation and recycling costs.

Identifying aluminum as a material that contributes significantly to the carbon footprint of its products, Apple is now close to using 100% recycled aluminum for its entire product range. Most Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch cases use 100% recycled aluminum in their cases.

To pursue the long-term use of aluminum, Apple continues to invest and expand the use of aluminum produced from emission-free aluminum smelting technology (ELYSIS). This is an aluminum smelting process that releases oxygen instead of greenhouse gas (CO2), and is considered a turning point that completely changes the nature of the traditional metallurgical industry.

In addition to solving the problem of environmental protection, using recycled aluminum also helps Apple optimize long-term production costs, especially in the context of increasingly volatile raw material prices as well as reduce geopolitical risks and meet strict emissions standards from the EU and US.

Last year, Apple caused controversy when just one year after announcing the iPhone 16 Pro using a titanium case, the company returned to the aluminum case on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. In addition to physical properties that help dissipate heat better, high recyclability and optimized production in the long-term strategy of “going all-in on aluminum materials” may be the main reasons.

In addition to clear strategies with aluminum in particular, Apple also announced new milestones in using recycled materials in general. For the first time, all Apple products shipped in 2025 will contain at least 30% recycled materials. All batteries designed by Apple use 100% recycled cobalt and 100% rare earth elements in all magnets across the products.

Earlier this year, Apple also introduced Cora, a completely new electronics recycling line located at the Advanced Recovery Center in California, USA. Cora is a recycling robot system designed to process microscopic electronic components that previous generations of robots could not. Unlike “predecessors” like Daisy or Dave, Cora uses an automatic shredding system combined with artificial intelligence (AI) and high-definition sensors to identify and separate rare materials from electronic waste on an industrial scale. Cora’s breakthrough lies in its ability to effectively recover rare earth elements and magnets from old devices, helping Apple move closer to its goal of using 100% recycled materials for all future products.