Apple on Thursday announced a slew of new clean energy and environmental initiatives in India, including investments, to expand renewable energy infrastructure, reduce plastic pollution, and foster green entrepreneurship in India.
These include a partnership with renewable energy developer CleanMax to support the development of new renewable energy capacity across the country. Apple’s initial investment of ₹100 crore would support the development of more than 150 megawatts of new renewable energy capacity — enough to power an average 1,50,000 Indian households each year — with opportunity to further expand in the coming years, said the Cupertino-based designer, manufacturer, and marketers of iPhones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and other accessories.
Sarah Chandler, Apple’s vice president of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation, said ``At Apple, our commitment to the environment is also a driving force for innovation — across the company and around the world. We’re proud to expand our efforts to invest in India’s clean energy economy and protect the country’s precious natural resources.”
Apple previously worked with CleanMax on a portfolio of rooftop solar projects to help power Apple’s offices and retail stores in India with 100% renewable energy. The new initiatives are expected to support Apple’s ambitious goal to be carbon neutral across its entire footprint by 2030.
In order to reduce plastic pollution, Apple is working with WWF-India, and supporting recovery-focused recycling and waste management initiatives that prioritise environmental and social safeguards. Building on WWF-India’s collaboration with waste-management pioneer Saahas Zero Waste in Goa, this model establishes facilities that collect, sort, and recover recyclable materials with full traceability. This prevents plastic leakage into surrounding ecosystems. With Apple’s support, WWF-India is now expanding this system-strengthening approach to new regions, including in Coimbatore, in close collaboration with local authorities, communities, and waste workers, as per the company.
Apple further said, it was also supporting early-stage entrepreneurs through a new partnership with Acumen, providing catalytic grants to six green enterprises developing solutions across waste management, circular economy and consumption, and regenerative agriculture and livelihoods. According to the company, the programme provides mentorship, strategic guidance, technical assistance, and network access to help social entrepreneurs validate promising business models and put them on a path to scale.
Apple has previously supported Acumen’s Energy for Livelihoods Accelerator for social enterprises focused on clean energy innovation. Social enterprises like Saptkrishi are helping small farmers reduce crop losses with its low-cost storage solution, Sabjikothi, while Yotuh Energy (an IIT Madras-incubated cleantech startup that manufactures, sells, and leases independent electric refrigeration systems for cold chain logistics) is building electric refrigerated trucks to make food and medicine transport cleaner and more efficient. And Mowo Fleet is creating new livelihood opportunities by enabling women to become EV drivers and entrepreneurs.
Overall, Apple has reduced its global greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% compared to 2015 levels, the firm claimed.