Apple lab to use robots to destroy devices for recycling materials
The lab is part of Apple’s broader goal to make all its products from recycled or renewable materials
Apple is notorious for keeping what happens in its laboratories a closely guarded secret. But the iPhone maker plans to share openly everything that happens in its newest lab in Austin, Texas. Apple said on Thursday that it will open a “material recovery” lab to investigate new techniques using robotics and machine learning to rip apart its devices and recover valuable materials such as copper, aluminum and cobalt. The 836m2 lab will be at the same Austin facility as “Daisy”, an Apple-built robot that can now tear apart iPhones at the rate of 1.2-million a year. The lab is part of Apple’s broader goal to make all its products from recycled or renewable materials. Apple has not set a date for when it will reach that goal, though some products, such as the MacBook Air, already feature aluminum made from melted down iPhones traded in to Apple. Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice-president of environment, policy and social initiatives, told Reuters the research will inform how Apple designs its ...
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