Stolen from disposal companies including iPhones
Consistently passive in legal response
Interpreted as "Because it contradicts eco-friendly policies"
It has been revealed that Apple has been passively responding despite having a large number of its products stolen.
On the 18th (local time), Bloomberg News and others reported that Apple entrusted a waste disposal company called GEEP Canada (hereinafter GEEP) with disposing of a significant amount of its products, including intact iPhones, among the used products it collected annually, without recycling them.
Recently, Apple sent about 530,000 iPhones, 25,000 iPads, and 19,000 Apple Watches to GEEP. However, Apple confirmed that at least 99,975 items among the products sent to GEEP were not disposed of, and it was also discovered that some iPhones were smuggled to China and are being used there.
Customers are experiencing the iPhone 15 series at the Apple Store Myeongdong in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the official domestic release date. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@
In 2020, Apple filed a $22.6 million (approximately 31.2 billion KRW) breach of contract lawsuit against GEEP, but has since maintained a passive response.
If Apple does not take further action, the lawsuit will be dismissed in January of the following year. A lawsuit filed last August against three former employees presumed responsible for the theft of iPhone devices is also expected to be automatically dismissed.
Upon learning of this, the industry was shaken by the scale of the incident and the suspicion that Apple has been disposing of tens of thousands of recyclable iPhones.
Apple has publicly declared its goal to achieve 100% carbon neutrality across the entire product lifecycle by 2030. Critics suspect that Apple has been discarding intact used iPhones to boost new iPhone sales. There is also an interpretation that Apple’s passive handling of the theft-related lawsuits was to prevent these facts from being highlighted through litigation.
After the lawsuit became known, Apple stated, "Today, electronic product recycling has advanced dramatically, and Apple produces products that multiple owners can use for a long time," adding, "Apple’s industry-leading recycling program supports customers in easily repairing and reusing their devices." They further added, "When a device reaches the end of its life, we are pioneering innovative and new methods to recover internal materials."
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