A first for Apple carbon-neutral logo

A significant step towards 2030

As the first carbon-neutral logo product, Apple Watch marks a milestone in making all the products carbon-neutral by 2030. They’re cutting most emissions through innovations in materials, clean electricity, and low-carbon shipping. And Apple is investing in nature-based projects to offset the remaining small amount. Because the earth won’t wait, neither will Apple.

But, we will cover the packaging-related steps taken to reduce the carbon footprint.

Carbon neutral logo: Refers to the state where the gross carbon footprint is offset by retiring an equivalent quantity of carbon credits to bring the net carbon footprint to zero. For an Apple product to be carbon neutral, we require the gross footprint to have been substantially reduced first before carbon credits are applied through the use of low-carbon design and recycled and renewable materials, matching all electricity impacts with clean electricity and prioritizing low-carbon modes of transportation.

It is made with more recycled and renewable materials.

Utilizing recycled materials is an effective method to reduce the carbon impact of products as these materials generally have a lower carbon footprint than materials obtained from primary sources. Apple is now sourcing more recycled content, bringing us closer to our ultimate objective of manufacturing products solely from recycled and renewable materials.

It is shipped using low‑carbon methods.

Shipping products to retail locations and customers worldwide carries a significant carbon impact. So, Apple prioritizes less carbon-intensive methods, such as rail, ocean, and electric vehicles.

How Apple reduced emissions 

• Transitioned to 100% clean electricity for manufacturing: To reduce emissions from the electricity used to make products, we’re transitioning our entire supply chain to 100 percent clean electricity and prioritizing energy efficiency in manufacturing. For the Apple Watch Series 9 and the new Sport Loop, 100 percent of manufacturing electricity is sourced from clean energy. 

• Matched emissions from charging with 100% clean electricity: To negate emissions from the electricity our customers use to power their Apple products, we’re investing in clean energy projects worldwide. We’re also prioritizing energy efficiency so products use less electricity. For all carbon-neutral Apple Watch options, we have matched 100 percent of customers’ expected electricity use for charging with clean electricity. 
• Increased non-air transportation: We’re shifting from air shipping to lower-carbon modes, like ocean or rail, to reduce product emissions. Across the combined weight of all carbon-neutral Apple Watch products, including watches and bands, we’ve shipped 50 percent or more by non-air modes from our final assembly sites to their next destination, primarily regional distribution hubs. 
• Used recycled and renewable materials: To address emissions generated by primary materials, we’re increasing the recycled content in our products, maximizing material and manufacturing efficiencies, and improving yields. And where we’ve not yet fully transitioned to recycled content, we prioritize renewable and low-carbon materials, such as aluminum smelted with hydroelectricity. Apple Watch Series 9 paired with Sport Loop has more than 30 percent total recycled content by weight.

The only way to reach this ambitious goal is to decarbonize our products substantially. Apple has a rigorous strategy to decarbonize products, focuses on transitioning to clean electricity, designing with recycled and renewable materials, and prioritizing lower-carbon shipping products, like ocean freight.

Apple applies carbon credits from high-quality projects to achieve carbon neutrality only after Apple has substantially reduced emissions. Here is Apple’s approach to drastically reducing carbon emissions from creating and using the Apple Watch Series 9.

Apple has reduced transportation-related emissions with a logistics plan that uses more non-air shipping over the lifetime of all carbon-neutral watches and bands.

Only after these efforts does Apple cover residual emissions through high-quality carbon credits that are real, additional, measurable, quantified, and have systems in place to avoid double-counting and ensure permanence.

The packaging of the Apple Watch Series 9 is 100 percent fiber-based. It contains no plastic except inks, coatings, and adhesives, the first milestone towards our commitment to plastic-free packaging by 2025.

Apple is working to improve the packaging across all products, including eliminating plastics, increasing recycled content, and reducing packaging volume.

The Apple Watch Series 9 packaging paired with Sport Loop contains 47 percent recycled content, and we have protected or created enough responsibly managed forests to cover all the new wood fiber we use in our packaging.

This ensures working forests can redeveloped and continue to clean our air and purify our water. The box for the Apple Watch Series 9 has been redesigned to be smaller and more efficient than the Apple Watch Series 8 box, reducing the volume by 23 percent.

This smaller size increases the total number of boxes that can fit onto a pallet by 25 percent, meaning it can ship more watches on fewer journeys.

As it transports the products from the manufacturers to their next destination, it can prioritize less carbon-intensive shipping modes than air transport, such as rail and ocean.

Over the product’s lifetime, it will ship 50 percent or more of the total weight of all carbon-neutral watches and bands using non-air modes, like ocean freight.

Carbon footprint: Estimated emissions are calculated by guidelines and requirements specified by ISO 14040, ISO 14044, and ISO 14067. Apple addresses this uncertainty for the top component contributors to Apple’s carbon emissions by developing detailed process-based environmental models with Apple-specific parameters. We rely on industry average data and assumptions for the remaining elements of Apple’s carbon footprint. We calculate carbon emissions using the 100-year time horizon global warming potentials (GWP100) from the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), including biogenic carbon. Our carbon footprint calculation includes emissions for the following life cycle phases in CO2 equivalency (CO2e).

Read Complete Assessment of Carbon Neutral –

Click to access Carbon_Neutral_Apple_Watch_Series_9_PER_Sept2023.pdf