The new MacBook Air is made from a custom alloy made from 100% recycled aluminium, which Apple says has the same strength and durability as the aluminium in its other products.

Alongside a motherboard made from 100% recycled tin, the alterations help to reduce the ultra-thin laptop’s carbon footprint by almost 50%, Apple claims.

The Mac features the use of more post-consumer recycled plastics, as does the new Mac mini, which is also made from 100% recycled aluminium.

Fruits of its labour

The announcement keeps Apple on a pathway to achieve its goal to use 100% recycled materials to make its electronic products. Apple recently evolved its old recycling robot, Liam, into Daisy – a super-powered AI machine capable of recovering valuable materials from up to 200 devices an hour.

Last week, the company was named as one of the corporates leading the drive for sustainable and transparent supply chains in the 2018 Green Supply Chain Corporate Information Transparency Index (CITI).  Apple, which announced earlier this year that all of its global facilities are powered with 100% renewable energy, is engaging with other firms to enable them to purchase renewable energy

The company announced in July that it had partnered with its key suppliers to jointly invest $300m (£228m) in solar power projects. It has also initiated projects with mining firms to accelerate commercialisation of a new technology that eliminates all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the smelting process of aluminium.

George Ogleby

Action inspires action. Stay ahead of the curve with sustainability and energy newsletters from edie

Subscribe