Using renewable energy to manufacture their products
Apple claims that their emissions from manufacturing their products alone, accounts for about 70% of their carbon footprint. Their plan to reduce the aforementioned obstacle is to transition to cleaner energy by creating the Apple’s Supplier Clean Energy. The initiative is to help their manufacturing suppliers to switch to renewable electricity such as wind generation and solar. So far, this program has generated 18.3 million megawatt- hours of clean energy and prevented 14 million metric tons of carbon emissions. Their 200+ suppliers have all agreed to take part, and the aim is for the company to archive 100% by 2030.
Their approach is twofold where they will find ways to consume energy more efficiently, and seek out opportunities to transition to renewable sources that support their goal of 100 percent renewable electricity across all operations and supply chain. With the renewable energy sourced, they aim to achieve positive impacts.
Reducing energy use begins with measuring and understanding the carbon footprint of one’s business. Since 2019, as part of Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct ,their suppliers were to regularly identify sources of emissions, measure their scope 1 and scope 2 carbon emissions, and make this information available to Apple as needed. By understanding the sources and quantity of a supplier’s carbon emissions, they are able to provide resources to support the supplier in creating an action plan with the goal of becoming optimally energy efficient.
Below the following chart displays their progress using renewable energy.