Teams across Apple and its global supply chain have contributed to Apple 2030 and the company’s environmental efforts, driving innovations in clean energy and energy efficiency, materials, carbon removal, water stewardship, zero waste, and recycling. As Apple celebrates Earth Day with its customers around the world — including through curated environment-focused collections on podcasts, books, and more — here’s a look at 10 innovations, partnerships, and activities engaging customers and advancing global climate and environmental progress.

Apple’s journey to remove plastic from its packaging is fueled by innovation, using fiber-based plastic alternatives that still provide an unmatched unboxing experience for customers. In the last year, Apple reached a milestone with the release of its first-ever 100 percent fiber-based packaging in the new Apple Watch lineup and for Apple Vision Pro. Across every product Apple shipped last year, only 3 percent of the packaging was made from plastic. Teams continue to innovate — this week, Apple published a new white paper with the University of British Columbia’s BioProducts Institute that analyzes the challenges with current consumer packaging and explores more sustainable future solutions through the use of advanced fiber-based materials. And in partnership with RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Apple announced the development of a fiber-based alternative to the protective foams widely used in many types of packaging.

Apple has engineered entirely new technologies to advance the field of electronics recycling — including disassembly robot Daisy, which can now take apart 29 models of iPhone into 15 discrete components, and recycling machines Dave and Taz, which are now deployed with a recycling partner in China. This year, Apple introduced a new product sorter to its asset recovery center in California, with the goal of automating the process to improve efficiency and productivity. Apple is committed to sharing the technology with recycling partners around the world as a low-cost, time-saving solution. As an additional efficiency improvement, the asset recovery center now employs autonomous mobile robots to help transport products and components around the facility. Through academic partnerships with institutions such as Carnegie Mellon, the company is also working to further harness the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and automation in recycling.

Apple’s commitment to design with the environment in mind extends beyond products and includes the construction of its buildings. Today, more than 100 of Apple’s retail stores, corporate offices, and data centers worldwide are certified through Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), two internationally respected accreditation processes for sustainable buildings. The number continues to grow — currently, Apple is developing more than 18 million square feet of green building space globally. In 2023, a building in Apple’s Culver City, California, campus achieved LEED Platinum status, the highest possible rating, for significant energy and water savings, renewable power, and waste diversion. And the new Apple Battersea campus and retail store, located in London’s historic Battersea Power Station, diverted 99 percent of construction waste from landfill, while employing sustainable design elements and low-carbon materials.

In the roadmap to achieve its Apple 2030 climate goal, Apple is prioritizing direct emissions reductions across all operations and its supply chain. For residual emissions that are difficult to avoid with today’s available solutions, the company is investing in high-quality, nature-based carbon projects, including through its innovative Restore Fund. Building on a strong portfolio of sustainable forestry projects in partnership with Goldman Sachs and Conservation International, Apple has launched a new phase of the Restore Fund with Climate Asset Management, focused on creating a portfolio that pools regenerative agriculture projects with ecosystem conservation and restoration projects. This year, Apple suppliers TSMC and Murata joined the fund’s second phase with their own investment commitments. And today Apple is announcing the first set of regenerative agriculture projects the fund has invested in, which includes the development of olive and almond farms in Portugal, an almond farm in Spain, and a farm in Australia that is being converted from sugarcane to macadamias. The projects adhere to strict protocols to ensure water security and efficiency, and employ proven measures to improve soil quality and promote biodiversity.