Mike Peterson
U.K. lawmakers are criticizing Apple's sustainability efforts after the company failed to appear before an environmental committee to answer questions about e-waste.
Reportedly, Apple CEO Tim Cook failed to respond by a Sept. 4 deadline from the House of Common's Environmental Audit Committee. The committee initially invited Apple to put forth representatives for a hearing in July, but it canceled on short notice.
Environmental Audit Committee Chairman Philip Dunne said in a statement to Bloomberg that Apple's "unwillingness to answer [the] committee's questions has led us to believe its environmental obligations are not taken seriously enough."
That's despite the fact that the Cupertino tech giant "appears to have a positive story to tell regarding its efforts on climate change," Dunne added.
The committee is specifically seeking answers regarding the steps Apple is taking to minimize it e-waste footprint — particularly since Apple has sold more than two billion iPhones. Dunne the difficulty and cost of repairing electronic devices has created a "throwaway society."
In its 2020 Environmental Progress Report, Apple said that its device recycling programs have directed 47,000 metric tons of e-waste away from landfills in 2019. It also touted its efforts in materials, disassembly, and recycling in general.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
21 Comments
So they don’t know enough about Apple’s environmental efforts but criticize it. Hahaha. So funny.
I wouldn’t want to share anything with such kind of people.
Apple is not going to bother because it knows that the folk in charge of UK law won’t have done their homework.
Really? The UK is calling Apple on the carpet for environmental issues?
And failure to respond by September 4 doesn't much sound like failure to appear.
Just about every electronics company in the world has worse policies regarding e-waste than Apple - they recycle their old stuff and attempt to manufacture most of their products using old product's recycled materials as much as possible - so how does this place Apple and Apple alone on the hot seat?
For some reason probably related to stock prices and revenues, this has become the official year of the Apple attack.
Anyone with a gripe, jealous motive, or data hounds trying to track when you took your last dump are whispering in some government official's ear somewhere getting officials to attack Apple using their offices and forced governmental legal compliance powers. The fact that these whisperers have shady pasts and compliance issues of their own are masked by these official inquiries, and the inability of Apple to face their real accusers and expose them for the hypocrites that they are.
LOL...the vast majority of the world's economic engine is based on non-sustainable or throwaway products. That isn't a new development unique to the smartphone market. One of the primary problems of the 21st century is to disengage from the 20th century economic model that guarantees a future collapse.
Apple fully deserves its criticism in this! This was a select committee which is made up of cross party members, not all from the current executive, it is used regularly for companies to be scrutinised and has seen many a big name CEO, the fact Apple failed to send anybody will not go down well with them. More fool Apple.