This morning, in a lengthy blog-like post to the company’s Hot News page, Apple CEO Steve Jobs takes on Greenpeace and other organizations who claim the computer and consumer electronics company isn’t doing its part to protect the environment. The piece, “A Greener Apple”, says “It is certainly clear that we have failed to communicate the things that we are doing well,” even as others lambasted the company for its environmental track record.
Apple says the company is working hard to remove toxic chemicals from new products, and more aggressively recycle old products. One of the most prominent examples of this was the company’s elimination of CRT monitors from its lineup in mid-2006. While Dell, HP and others continue to ship CRT monitors, which can contain upwards of 3 pounds of lead apiece, LCD displays have almost none. For example, the original Bondi Blue iMacs had 484 grams of lead, and the newest LCD iMacs contain less than 1 gram each. Additionally, all of Apple’s products are RoHS compliant, and have been since mid-2005.
In addition to making the products better for the environment when produced, Apple is doing its part on the back end too, says Jobs. The company recycled 13 million pounds in 2006. By 2010, this number is anticipated to grow to 19 million pounds.
The tone of the piece is very open, something not usually seen from Apple. Steve adds at the end of his summary, “Today is the first time we have openly discussed our plans to become a greener Apple. It will not be the last. We will be providing updates of our efforts and accomplishments at least annually,” and “We apologize for leaving you in the dark for this long.”
If the piece is anything like Steve’s “Thoughts on Music”, it should open up a mountain of discussion in the industry. The last “blog post” ended up in record companies doing away with DRM on some of their offerings. Who knows what this post will bring.
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