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Apple’s “carbon neutral” claims are facing increased scrutiny

23 comments
  • I'm an Apple user and think their attempts reduce the environmental footprint of their product's manufacturing is pretty good, however this is unequivocally good news.

    Purchasing carbon offsets to claim your product is carbon neutral isn't good practice in my opinion and I'm quite glad to see the EU is thinking of outlawing it. Of course Apple needs to get its arse into gear about expandability and repairability if it is serious about reducing eWaste

    • Carbon offsets are modern day letters of indulgence. It’s complete bullshit.

    • Get it's ass in gear? Apple has been actively fighting RtR and expandability in every way and only 'supported' the last RtR bill in Cali because they already had a circumvention in place using versioning. This is the exact same thing, PR gets to say they're carbon neutral while they pump the exact same amount of CO2 into the air each year. It's not just bad practice it's deceitful.

      • I don’t think so. If you look at the manufacturing of the latest watch, they clearly have taken steps to reduce the carbon emissions. But not enough to claim carbon neutral.

    • The absolute most important thing is the ability for end users to replace their batteries and displays. Storage expansion is somewhat moot by now thanks to cloud and NAS storage options coupled with 5G speeds.

      • Personally, I think there is absolutely no reason why in something like the iMacs, HD and RAM shouldn’t be user replaceable and upgradable.

        They always used to be until Jonny I’ve got his thinness bug.

        If Apple went for it and introduced a new aesthetic where there were small visible screws which became a symbol for cate about the environment, they could probably push the industry in that direction

  • Carbon credits are bullshit and carbon neutral isn't even good enough anymore.

  • This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Apple faces scrutiny from European environmental and consumer groups over its claims that its latest devices are “carbon neutral,” a term that Brussels proposes to ban in corporate marketing because it is “misleading.”

    But the US tech giant’s decision to rely on credits to cancel out the 7-12 kg of greenhouse gas emissions behind each new Watch prompted a sharp reaction from consumer groups in the wake of a long-trailed clampdown by the EU on “greenwashing.”

    “The EU’s recent decision to ban carbon neutral claims will rightly clear the market of such bogus messages, and Apple Watches should be no exception.”

    The debate over Apple’s claims highlights the problems facing companies that are trying to follow environmentally sound policies, while seeking to make marketing statements to tout their green credentials.

    The European Parliament and Council, two decision-making bodies, reached a political agreement in September to ban “misleading advertisements,” including “claims based on emissions offsetting schemes that a product has neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment.” This accord is yet to be formally adopted.

    Climate campaigners have also questioned whether tracking carbon emissions provided a thorough assessment of the environmental impact of small electronic devices such as smartwatches and wireless earbuds, which can be difficult to repair and often end up as e-waste.


    The original article contains 451 words, the summary contains 214 words. Saved 53%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

23 comments