Adding to its worldwide environmental program, Apple announced on Sunday that it’s launching an expansion of its renewable energy and environmental protection initiatives in China. As part of the project, it’s launched a multi-year agreement with the World Wildlife Fund to responsibly manage one million acres of working forests which provide fiber for pulp, paper and wood products.
“Forests, like energy, can be renewable resources,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environmental Initiatives. “We believe we can run on naturally renewable resources and ensure that we protect—and create—as much sustainable working forest as needed to produce the virgin paper in our product packaging. This is an important step toward that goal and our commitment to leave the world better than we found it.”
Apple also announced its intent to expand its renewable energy projects to manufacturing facilities in China, not just its server warehouses.
“We’ve set an example by greening our data centers, retail stores and corporate offices, and we’re ready to start leading the way toward reducing carbon emissions from manufacturing,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “This won’t happen overnight—in fact it will take years—but it’s important work that has to happen, and Apple is in a unique position to take the initiative toward this ambitious goal.
“It is a responsibility we accept. We are excited to work with leaders in our supply chain who want to be on the cutting edge of China’s green transformation.”
Sunday’s announcements come three weeks after Apple launched its first major solar project in China. Solar installations in Sichuan Province will generate “far more energy than needed to power all of Apple’s corporate offices and retail stores in China.”
Under Tim Cook, Apple has arguably made the most strides out of any company in regards to environmental impact. Its efforts have been praised by Greenpeace and other agencies. The company likes to tout that all of its data centers, and many of its facilities, are run on 100% green energy.
To help, in May of 2014 Cook brought on board Jackson, who is formerly the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Jackson is charged with overseeing iCloud data centers and Apple’s other environmental projects and reports directly to Cook.
Source: Apple