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- Apple is using 100% recycled rare earths in their upcoming iPhones, but they are just one manufacturer out of many. - No one has really figured out how to ext

- Apple is using 100% recycled rare earths in their upcoming iPhones, but they are just one manufacturer out of many. - No one has really figured out how to extract the elements out of phones after they have been manufactured. - We don't yet know how to recycle solar panels either.

tshoaib 6y ago
100% only for the magnets, but it's still a great improvement
nix23 6y ago
>Apple is using 100% recycled rare earths in their upcoming iPhones Where is it recycled and how much more energy the recycling uses?
- saurik 6y ago
  Rare earth metals are rare; it isn't an energy tradeoff as it isn't like we are synthesizing this stuff... it is a "eventually we run out" situation (and presumably a lot sooner than oil, with less ability to swap in replacements).
  - adventured 6y ago
    > Rare earth metals are rare; it isn't an energy tradeoff ... it is a "eventually we run out" situation Rare earth metals are mostly not rare. The vast majority of rare earths are plentiful. We're not going to run out of the most useful rare earths for hundreds of years at a minimum. It's the extraction and processing that is a problem (environmentally), not the scarcity factor. The US for example is loaded with rare earths and has barely even scratched the surface of its supply (the same is true of Canada and Australia); there has been a lack of interest in rare earth mining in the US for the past several decades because of how intense and dirty the process of extraction and processing is. > The rare earths are a relatively abundant group of 17 elements composed of scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanides. The elements range in crustal abundance from cerium, the 25th most abundant element of the 78 common elements in the Earth's crust at 60 parts per million, to thulium and lutetium, the least abundant rare-earth elements at about 0.5 part per million. https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/rare-earths-statistics-and-information https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/rare-earths-statistics-and... > The "rare" in the name of this group of elements is actually somewhat misleading; the U.S. Geological Survey describes them as "relatively abundant in the Earth's crust." https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dont-panic-about-rare-earth-elements/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dont-panic-about-... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rare-earth-elements-not-rare-just-playing-hard-to-get-38812856/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rare-earth-ele...
  - nix23 6y ago
    >Rare earth metals are rare; No one said that...an exaclty because of that i am no shure if recycling is better or worse for the environment.
- yazaddaruvala 6y ago
  Apple is also moving their energy to renewable sources for all of their facilities, their partners, and I believe their partners' partners. They are not just pushing renewable sources with the partners and partners' partners, but are also pushing for Carbon neutral. With that plan meant to hit "zero/negative footprint by 2030" I find myself feeling less and less guilty about buying their products and returning the "not yet old" versions. And in 2030, I'd be happy to pay Apple the incremental extra $ for the guilt free experience.
  - nix23 6y ago
    >And in 2030, I'd be happy to pay Apple the incremental extra $ for the guilt free experience. Gosh you really belief in that right?
    - yazaddaruvala 6y ago
      I mean, it is aspirational and 10 years away. So they could be wrong and not hit the goal. Beyond that, yes I buy iPhones anyways and so will trust Apple at their word until some new agency does a deep dive and provides the counterfactual data. Or if over 10 years, Apple erodes the trust they have built with me.
      - nix23 6y ago
        Yeah maybe first let others fix your apple products so you dont have to buy a new one every 3 years...THAT would be the first step. BTW: stop trust a company...thats what religion is for...and if you live in a really good place the goverment...but NEVER a Company
    - lolsal 6y ago
      Given the other options, it's a vote with my wallet for the kind of world I want.

tshoaib 6y ago

100% only for the magnets, but it's still a great improvement

nix23 6y ago

>Apple is using 100% recycled rare earths in their upcoming iPhones Where is it recycled and how much more energy the recycling uses?

saurik 6y ago
Rare earth metals are rare; it isn't an energy tradeoff as it isn't like we are synthesizing this stuff... it is a "eventually we run out" situation (and presumably a lot sooner than oil, with less ability to swap in replacements).
- adventured 6y ago
  > Rare earth metals are rare; it isn't an energy tradeoff ... it is a "eventually we run out" situation Rare earth metals are mostly not rare. The vast majority of rare earths are plentiful. We're not going to run out of the most useful rare earths for hundreds of years at a minimum. It's the extraction and processing that is a problem (environmentally), not the scarcity factor. The US for example is loaded with rare earths and has barely even scratched the surface of its supply (the same is true of Canada and Australia); there has been a lack of interest in rare earth mining in the US for the past several decades because of how intense and dirty the process of extraction and processing is. > The rare earths are a relatively abundant group of 17 elements composed of scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanides. The elements range in crustal abundance from cerium, the 25th most abundant element of the 78 common elements in the Earth's crust at 60 parts per million, to thulium and lutetium, the least abundant rare-earth elements at about 0.5 part per million. https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/rare-earths-statistics-and-information https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/rare-earths-statistics-and... > The "rare" in the name of this group of elements is actually somewhat misleading; the U.S. Geological Survey describes them as "relatively abundant in the Earth's crust." https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dont-panic-about-rare-earth-elements/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dont-panic-about-... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rare-earth-elements-not-rare-just-playing-hard-to-get-38812856/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rare-earth-ele...
- nix23 6y ago
  >Rare earth metals are rare; No one said that...an exaclty because of that i am no shure if recycling is better or worse for the environment.
yazaddaruvala 6y ago
Apple is also moving their energy to renewable sources for all of their facilities, their partners, and I believe their partners' partners. They are not just pushing renewable sources with the partners and partners' partners, but are also pushing for Carbon neutral. With that plan meant to hit "zero/negative footprint by 2030" I find myself feeling less and less guilty about buying their products and returning the "not yet old" versions. And in 2030, I'd be happy to pay Apple the incremental extra $ for the guilt free experience.
- nix23 6y ago
  >And in 2030, I'd be happy to pay Apple the incremental extra $ for the guilt free experience. Gosh you really belief in that right?
  - yazaddaruvala 6y ago
    I mean, it is aspirational and 10 years away. So they could be wrong and not hit the goal. Beyond that, yes I buy iPhones anyways and so will trust Apple at their word until some new agency does a deep dive and provides the counterfactual data. Or if over 10 years, Apple erodes the trust they have built with me.
    - nix23 6y ago
      Yeah maybe first let others fix your apple products so you dont have to buy a new one every 3 years...THAT would be the first step. BTW: stop trust a company...thats what religion is for...and if you live in a really good place the goverment...but NEVER a Company
  - lolsal 6y ago
    Given the other options, it's a vote with my wallet for the kind of world I want.