Circular Economy Analysis of Apple Company: Environmental Impact and Value Chain Assessment
Overview
This paper examines Apple Company's circular economy practices and sustainability challenges, focusing on the environmental impact of iPhone production. It analyzes the company's value chain to identify material flows, waste generation, and ecological degradation caused by raw material extraction, component manufacturing, and assembly processes.
What this coursework covers
- Introduction to Apple Company history, success, and sustainability challenges
- Value Chain Analysis framework and identification of materials and waste flows in iPhone production
- Environmental impact of raw material extraction and mining practices in supply chain
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CIRCULAR ECONOMY REPORT
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Circular Economic Report
Apple Company
- Introduction
Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs in1975 started Apple Company. Since then, the company has attained success. It is the leading manufacturer of computer software, peripherals, tablets, smartphones, and personal computers. Apple Company is widely known as the best tech business. It is among the most significant five technological companies and has continued to invent consumer technologies. Apple has also attained success in business as it made significant acquisitions and investments over the years. For instance, in 1996, the company acquired NeXT Computer. In 2014, the company acquired Beats Electronics, and in 2017 and 2018, the company received Shazam and Texture syndicates, respectively. Apple Company has been driven by innovation, portrayed by its ability to invest in trusts that have advanced their technology catalogs.
Apple has attained significant success through the sale of its iPhone product. However, it has experienced sustainability problems in the production process. Although the company has discussed its environmental initiatives in the past few years and focused on minimizing its overall carbon footprint, Apple's Production has significantly increased ecological degradation. The company claims that 70% of its carbon emissions are contributed by Production alone. Conversely, the environmental effect of the Production of the iPhone starts at the assembly line. Components such as lithium and cobalt, essential for electronic devices, adversely affect the environment. According to researchers, more than 2.2 million liters of water are required to generate one ton of lithium (Newman, 2022).