Apple has unveiled a new robotic system designed to properly disassemble iPhones in order to recover reusable materials from units that have been junked by their owners.
Lisa Jackson, vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives at Apple, announced on Monday that their new industrial robot, Liam, is part of the company's effort to recycle iPhone parts to help keep them from ending up as electronic wastes in landfills.
The new program is considered to be Apple's response to criticism over the years that the design of many of its products makes it difficult for others to take them apart for the purpose of refurbishing or reusing their components.
The company has been working on Liam for the past three years. It began operating at full capacity in February.
The new robotic system is capable of disassembling an iPhone 6 handset in about 11 seconds. This allows it to recover valuable materials used to build the unit such as gold, silver, copper, cobalt, tungsten, tin and aluminum pieces.
Apple is also using the introduction of Liam to spearhead its Apple Renew program, which allows customers to return old devices to the company by handing them over at stores or sending them in through postage.
Environment protection advocate, Greenpeace, said that it welcomes Apple's initiative to keep its products from becoming e-wastes in landfills. However, the group remains uncertain about just how much impact the robotic system would have on recycling discarded iPhones overall.
"If it's easy for a robot, that's great," Gary Cook, an IT analyst at Greenpeace, said. "But making it easier for a human, who will be doing most of this, is part of the solution."
The group urged the iPhone maker to build more devices that make use of recycled materials, and to design products that are easier to disassemble.
Cook pointed out that as a leader in the smartphone industry, Apple has to focus on environmental concerns, such as pushing its suppliers to switch to renewable energy.
Aside from its Liam robotic system, Apple also revealed that as much as 93 percent of its facilities around the world get their power from renewable sources of energy. In countries such as China and the United States, the company's facilities have already reached 100 percent use of renewable energy.
The company said it already has plans to establish solar arrays on rooftops in Singapore and a solar farm in China.
