Apple wants to build a circular manufacturing economy

Blink and you may have missed it. But in a newly published case study, big consultancy firm McKinsey takes a deep look at Apple’s efforts to build a circular manufacturing ecosystem. It also shows the company calling out to others across adjacent industries to lend a hand in building a vibrant ecosystem that can support such initiatives.

The study seems to be part of an extensive collaboration between the two firms: Apple called in consultants from McKinsey to work together at a top level to gain insights into what the company is doing to reduce emissions, make sure those rare earth elements don’t go to waste, and figure out how to build a sustainable market for this approach to manufacturing. The last bit is super important, as it shows Apple recognizes the need to work with others to create a vibrant market for recycling technologies and materials.

What the report sets out to do

To be clear, the case study doesn’t go too far behind the curtain of what the secretive computer company does. It does, however, represent Apple’s interest in identifying new opportunities for use of circular materials in its business, and its attempt to better identify hitherto untapped reserves of recyclable materials. 

The case study also reveals some interesting nuggets of data, for example:

More than 85% of post-consumer rare earth magnets are scrapped, rather than recycled. That’s a major loss, both in terms of cost of these materials and the human cost of obtaining them.

Just 5% of rare earths are likely to be recycled by 2035 because of the lack of recycling facilities

All the same, Apple has raced to leadership and has already reached a point at which almost all the magnets used in its products come from recycled rare earths. Apple recently disclosed a huge investment in a US firm, MP Materials, that mines and recycles these materials in America.

Doing business better is better for business

Central to Apple’s approach is its recognition that decarbonizing its business is also good for business. “In 2024, 24% of the materials shipped in Apple products, by weight, came from recycled sources,” the report explains.

“Circularity and decarbonization go hand in hand,” Sarah Chandler, Apple vice president for environment and supply chain innovation, said in the McKinsey report. “Our work to use more recycled materials in our products not only reduces our reliance on extractive processes like mining, but it also brings us closer to our goal to be carbon neutral across our entire footprint by 2030.”

Apple has been very open about these efforts. 

Its most recent Environmental Progress Report shared news that Apple has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 60% compared to 2015. The whole attempt represents a significant root-and-branch transformation across the company supply chain. This is why, for example, suppliers participating in Apple’s Zero Waste program redirected approximately 600,000 metric tons of waste from landfills, bringing the total to 3.6 million metric tons since the program’s inception in 2015.

Apple also now uses 99% recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries. That quickly adds up when you’re taking about a company that sells hundreds of millions of battery-powered devices each year.

What happens next

Apple is actively working to drive change across materials supply chains in its own and adjacent industries. It is also looking to work with other companies’ ambitions to improve their own supply chains within the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Critical Materials Collective initiative.

“To help strengthen broader industry momentum for circular materials, Apple and McKinsey have chosen to make a number of quantitative research findings publicly available, calling for industry partners to help increase the overall use of circular materials,” the two companies explained.]

“We want to see markets for recycled materials that are as vibrant as those for primary materials. No single company can make that happen on their own….Collaboration is a force multiplier,” Chandler said.

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