Apple Reports 30% of All 2025 Products Used Recycled Material, With 100% Recycled Cobalt in All Batteries
Apple has published figures showing that 30% of all material across products it shipped in 2025 came from recycled or renewable sources — a record for the company and a meaningful increase from prior years. The standout disclosure is that all Apple-designed batteries now use 100% recycled cobalt. For a company that ships hundreds of millions of battery-powered devices annually, the cobalt achievement has significant supply chain and environmental implications.
Why Cobalt Matters
Cobalt is a critical component in lithium-ion batteries and has historically been one of the most ethically and environmentally contentious materials in consumer electronics. The majority of the world's cobalt supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where mining operations have faced serious scrutiny over labor practices. Cobalt is also a material with volatile supply chain and significant price fluctuations.
Moving to 100% recycled cobalt in Apple-designed batteries closes a significant loop: rather than mining new cobalt, Apple is recovering cobalt from devices returned through its trade-in and recycling programs and reprocessing it for use in new batteries. This is circular manufacturing at scale — something that is extremely difficult to achieve industrially and that few companies have managed for a high-demand battery material.
The 30% Recycled Material Milestone
Reaching 30% recycled or renewable content across all shipped products is an aggregate figure that covers dozens of materials across hundreds of product lines. Some materials — like recycled aluminum in enclosures — have reached much higher percentages; others remain difficult to source in recycled form at commercial scale. The 30% figure should be understood as a portfolio average rather than a statement that any single product is 30% recycled.
Apple has committed to achieving carbon neutrality across its entire supply chain by 2030. Increasing the recycled content of products is one of the central strategies for reducing the carbon footprint of manufacturing — producing aluminum from recycled scrap, for instance, uses roughly 95% less energy than smelting it from bauxite ore.
Industrial Scale Recycling
Apple's Daisy robot system, which disassembles iPhones to recover materials, has been expanded and improved to increase recovery rates and handle more device types. The company has also invested in material recovery partnerships with third-party recyclers to ensure that the cobalt, rare earth elements, and other critical materials in returned devices are actually recovered rather than lost in the recycling stream.
The Bottom Line
Apple's sustainability progress on recycled cobalt and 30% recycled material overall reflects genuine investment in circular manufacturing at industrial scale. The cobalt milestone in particular is significant — it proves that a high-volume consumer electronics company can close the loop on one of its most contentious battery materials.
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