Critical Analysis of Non-Sustainable Elements
Despite these commendable initiatives, different aspects of Apple's business model raise doubts
over the company's overall sustainability. Product obsolescence continues to be a source of
concern. Apple's business model revolves around annual product cycles that make people
upgrade their products regularly. Updates in the software slow down devices, and Apple's
repair-dictatorial approaches have previously curtailed the life span of its products and
generated electronic waste.
The right-to-repair issue uncovers tension between Apple's business interests and
environmental stewardship. Apple up to now fought right-to-repair legislation hard and designed
products that were not readily repairable by third parties. While the company introduced the Self
Service Repair program in 2022, critics argue that this came after vociferous public backlash
and regulatory scrutiny (Proctor, 2022). The specificity of the program and the prohibitively high
cost of genuine Apple parts still pose barriers to product life extension.
Resource extraction to manufacture Apple products is another sustainability area. While there
has been an improvement in the use of recycled content, Apple products still draw huge
amounts of newly mined materials like rare earth metals and minerals like cobalt, lithium, and
gold. The manufacturing of these products is connected with environmental degradation, water
pollution, and human rights violations across the globe (Amnesty International, 2021). Reza
(2023) argues that even as Apple is reducing its environmental impact in certain ways, rising
production levels by the company can neutralize such positives.
Apple's carbon footprint, while decreasing in certain ways, is still high when considering the
entire product life cycle. Manufacturing accounts for approximately 70% of Apple's carbon
footprint (Apple, 2023). Though the company targets being carbon neutral in its end-to-end
business, supply chain, and product life cycle by 2030, it is difficult to meet this goal by
addressing complex supply chain emissions instead of direct operations. The 2030 carbon
neutrality goal is highly challenging in the decarbonization of manufacturing processes and
material sourcing (Reza, 2023).
Transportation logistics is among the major contributors to Apple's carbon footprint. Apple's
international supply chain implies the movement of components and finished products from one
continent to another, primarily through carbon-intensive freight modes. Apple's just-in-time
manufacturing strategy also has a tendency to necessitate air freight, which has a significantly
higher carbon cost than sea freight (Transport & Environment, 2021).
