Apple Successfully Pushes 3 More Suppliers to Go Green

Apple is continuing its push to get companies in its supply chain to go green, announcing Thursday that three more suppliers are pledging to use solely renewable energy in component manufacturing.

Those three Apple suppliers are Compal Electronics, Sunwoda Electronic Co., and Biel Crystal Manufactory, according to Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of sustainability and government affairs. Jackson first broke the news in a recent interview for Bloomberg. Apple itself uses 96 percent renewable energy in its own operations — and today’s announcement is part of a broader push to get its supply chain to make the switch.

“We look at our carbon footprint as so much more than just our office, our data centers, our stores, even our distribution centers,” Jackson told Bloomberg. “All that’s included in our 96 percent, but now we’re moving onto our supply chain.”

As part of that initiative, Apple partner Ibiden — which makes integrated circuitry and chip packages for Cupertino — announced last month that it would become the first Japanese company to use 100 percent renewable energy. Today’s three additions brings the total number of Apple supply chain manufacturers that have pledged to go green to seven.

Today’s announcement also follows closely on the heels of a pledge Apple made to stick by its initiative to fight climate change in the face of EPA rollbacks. Apple, along with other tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon and Google, signed a joint statement supporting climate regulations that had recently been rescinded by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

Apple’s commitment to environmentally conscious practices is well-known. Most of the company’s facilities utilize completely clean energy, and service operations such as iMessage are similarly powered by renewable sources. In fact, Cupertino has been named the world’s most environmentally friendly tech company by Greenpeace for three years in a row. Even the company’s new headquarters, Apple Park, will run entirely on renewable energy sources. Not only that, but the company plans on selling excess energy generated at Apple Park to local markets.