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The new iPhone. Surely the world’s most desired
gadget. How should we judge its carbon credentials?
2.5 million tons of electronics
were discarded in the US alone in 2010.
Little green
apples
Launching alongside
Apple’s flagship 5S iPhone will be the 5C, the first mid-range iPhone, with
fewer features and a plastic casing instead of aluminium. The 5S will have a
carbon footprint of 70kg, the 5C a footprint of 60kg. Of the 5S’s 70kg carbon
footprint, 81% will be emitted during production and 12% during phone’s
‘career’ (which is how I like to think of it). The new iPhones will be
less environmentally friendly than those that came before. To be clear: the
total carbon footprint per phone has increased, but mostly that is accounted
for by production. In terms of running cost, an 13W energy efficient lightbulb
is eight times more wasteful than an iPhone.
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Apple’s supply chain has
a recycling standard of over 70%, which green groups largely approve of despite
an ongoing battle to stem human rights abuses committed by factory owners
trying to maximise productivity. CEO Tim Cook is said to have sustainability at
the heart of his vision for the company. Yet here comes a slightly more
wasteful iPhone. Perhaps it’s a necessary step in Cook’s march towards a
sweeter Apple? However you look at it, the carbon output per handset is
significant considering how many Apple plan to sell.
The next question is:
how to judge an iPhone’s carbon footprint according to total emissions over its
life? People switch phones with varying frequency in different countries. The
obvious solution would be to create an emissions-per-year estimate, but having
searched online I have been unable to find one. The closest has been a breakdown
of the efficiency of the iPhone’s power brick, which hovers between 70-80%.
Glamour vs
longevity
80% of the global iPhone
market is north American. To offer a truly sustainable communications tool
Apple would have to figure out how to make an iPhone that would retain its
glamour over a longer period of time.
Computing is
increasingly cloud-reliant. The breakthrough the portable technology industry
needs is in battery capacity, which has not been developed at nearly the same
rate as microprocessing power. A modular handset that last years without being
charged, and that renews itself with downloads from the cloud: this could
eventually be the low carbon smartphone solution.
Read more at ENN affiliate: The Ecologist
Base images from Shutterstock.
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