Apple are expected to produce around 92,000 metric tonnes (203 million pounds) of waste in 2026.
This estimate is based on their own environmental reports from 2015 to 2025, and projected forward to account for how much the company keeps growing — adding more staff, more data centres, and more stores around the world every year.
And while they've almost entirely cut plastic out of their packaging, the waste from their everyday operations has done the opposite, climbing steadily as the business gets bigger.
Apple are one of the world's largest technology companies, selling over 200 million devices a year. They are also among the most outspoken on climate, pledging carbon neutrality across their entire footprint by 2030.
By 2026, Apple's own operations alone are estimated to generate around 92,000 metric tonnes of waste.
Apples annual waste totals (2015–2026)
The clearest measure of Apple's waste comes from the facilities they run directly — their offices, data centres, and stores.
The table below tracks their total waste from 2015 to 2026, which has risen steadily as the company has grown. Even as roughly 70–75% is kept out of landfill.
| Year | Total waste (metric tonnes) | Change from previous year (tonnes) | Change from previous year (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 92,000 | +8,239 | +9.8% |
| 2025 | 83,761 | +22,019 | +35.7% |
| 2024 | 61,742 | −5,373 | −8.0% |
| 2023 | 67,115 | +10,605 | +18.8% |
| 2022 | 56,510 | +4,020 | +7.7% |
| 2021 | 52,490 | +6,776 | +14.8% |
| 2020 | 45,714 | −12,692 | −21.7% |
| 2019 | 58,406 | +5,547 | +10.5% |
| 2018 | 52,859 | −964 | −1.8% |
| 2017 | 53,823 | +23,958 | +80.2% |
| 2016 | 29,865 | +13,210 | +79.3% |
| 2015 | 16,655 | N/A | N/A |
Note: Totals are the sum of Apple's five reported waste streams (recycled, landfilled, composted, hazardous, and waste-to-energy), converted from pounds. The large rises in 2016–2017 mainly reflect Apple expanding their facilities and broadening their reporting, rather than a real surge in waste. The 2026 figure is an estimate based on the recent growth trend.
What are Apple?
Apple are an American multinational technology company best known for products such as the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, along with services like the App Store, iCloud, and Apple Music.
The company was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, initially to build and sell personal computers, before growing into the consumer-electronics giant they are today.
Headquartered at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, Apple have become one of the most valuable companies in the world — the first to surpass a $1 trillion, $2 trillion, and $3 trillion valuation — and now sell across more than 175 countries.
Apple's scale brings significant environmental responsibility, and they have positioned climate action as a core part of their public identity.
Through their "Apple 2030" plan, Apple have committed to becoming carbon neutral across their entire footprint — from manufacturing and supply chain to product use — by the end of the decade, supported by goals around recycled materials, renewable energy, plastic-free packaging, and waste reduction.
Apple's packaging footprint (2018–2026)
Every product ships in a box, and that packaging eventually becomes household waste.
Apple's total packaging footprint has grown alongside sales, but their standout result is plastic: down from 10% of packaging in 2018 to effectively zero (0.4%) in 2025, meeting their goal to remove plastic from packaging by the end of 2025.
| Year | Packaging (metric tons) | Plastic share |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 299,000 | 0% |
| 2025 | 293,400 | 0.4% |
| 2024 | 240,110 | 1% |
| 2023 | 254,300 | 3% |
| 2022 | 276,100 | 4% |
| 2021 | 257,000 | 4% |
| 2020 | 226,000 | 6% |
| 2019 | 189,000 | 8% |
| 2018 | 187,000 | 10 |
Note: From fiscal 2022 Apple widened their packaging boundary (adding retail bags, finished-goods boxes, Trade In and AppleCare packaging), raising reported mass by about 36%, so figures before and after 2022 aren't perfectly comparable.
Apple's total carbon footprint from 2015 to 2026
Beyond physical waste, Apple measure their environmental impact through greenhouse gas emissions and this is where they have made their most visible progress.
As Apple put it, they have now cut their overall emissions by more than 60 percent since 2015, even as the business has more than doubled in size.
The table below tracks Apple's comprehensive carbon footprint (their total gross emissions across operations, manufacturing, product use, and transport) against their 2015 baseline.
| Year | Gross emissions (million tonnes CO₂e) | Reduction vs. 2015 baseline |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 15.0 | −61% |
| 2025 | 15.3 | −60% |
| 2024 | 15.3 | −60% |
| 2023 | 16.0 | −58% |
| 2022 | 20.6 | −46% |
| 2021 | 23.2 | −40% |
| 2020 | 22.6 | −41% |
| 2015 | 38.4 | baseline |
Note: 2015 and 2020 figures are from Apple's emissions trajectory chart; 2021–2025 are calculated from the detailed emissions appendix. The 2026 figure is an estimate, as emissions have held roughly flat since 2024.
Apple's 2030 climate goals
Apple's wider climate plan is built around "Apple 2030" — their commitment to be carbon neutral across their entire footprint, from manufacturing to product use, by the end of the decade. In practice, it comes down to a handful of goals:
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Reduce emissions by 90% compared to their 2015 baseline, leaving only a small share of the original footprint.
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Address what remains by funding carbon removal projects that take carbon back out of the atmosphere, rather than relying on conventional offsets.
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Move their suppliers onto 100% renewable electricity, so the energy behind each product comes from clean sources.
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Use more recycled and renewable materials in their products, reducing emissions before manufacturing begins.
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Lower emissions from shipping and everyday use through greener transport and more energy-efficient devices.
Where Apple gets criticised
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Right to repair. Apple spent years fighting laws that make devices easier to fix, and still lock parts to specific phones — so getting a repair done outside Apple is harder and pricier than it needs to be.
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Short replacement cycles. New models every year, plus designs that are glued and sealed shut, push people to buy a new device instead of repairing the old one — which creates more e-waste.
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"Carbon neutral" doubts. Critics say Apple's carbon-neutral claims rely heavily on buying carbon offsets rather than actually cutting emissions, and don't reflect their full impact.
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Throwaway accessories. Products like AirPods are almost impossible to repair or recycle, so they tend to end up as waste within just a few years.
How much e-waste does Apple produce?
E-waste — electronic waste — is any discarded device with a plug or battery: phones, laptops, chargers, and everything in between. It's the fastest-growing waste stream in the world, and it's where Apple's footprint is largest and least visible.
Here's the honest difficulty: Apple sell over 200 million devices a year, and every one eventually becomes e-waste — but Apple doesn't report that total, because once a product is sold, its disposal sits with the customer, not on Apple's books.
What Apple do disclose is the volume of electronic waste they collect and direct to recycling through their own programs:
| Year | E-waste Apple directed to recycling (metric tonnes) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 43,000 |
| 2022 | 40,000 |
| 2021 | 38,000 |
| 2018 | 48,000 |
Note: Figures are drawn from Apple's Environmental Progress Reports for the years shown; Apple doesn't report this metric every year, and the exact definition varies slightly between reports. These numbers reflect what Apple recover, not the total e-waste their products create — which is far larger.
Key facts about Apple and waste
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No charger in the box (2020). Apple removed the wall charger and EarPods from iPhone boxes, shrinking the packaging and fitting more units per shipment. Apple framed it as a major cut in materials and emissions; critics — and Brazil's consumer regulator, which later fined Apple — called it cost-shifting dressed as sustainability.
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They build robots to take phones apart. Apple's disassembly robot Daisy recovers materials from old iPhones, alongside their Dave and Taz machines and a new e-waste line called Cora.
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Recycled materials are now mainstream in their products. 30% of the materials in Apple's 2025 products came from recycled or renewable sources, including 100% recycled cobalt in their batteries and 100% recycled rare earths in their magnets.
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The EU forced the USB-C switch. After the EU's common-charger mandate, Apple moved the iPhone to USB-C in 2023 — a change expected to cut cable and adapter e-waste across the industry.
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Their suppliers divert far more waste than Apple's offices. Supplier factories kept around 600,000 tonnes out of landfill in 2025 (over 4 million tonnes since 2015), and all final-assembly sites are certified zero-waste-to-landfill — though this counts waste diverted, not total waste generated.
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Take-back is nearly global. Apple run trade-in and recycling programs in around 99% of the countries where they sell.
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Making the device is the real footprint. About 55% of a product's lifetime emissions come from manufacturing — which is why keeping a device in use longer cuts more carbon than recycling it ever will.
Frequently asked questions about Apple’s waste production
Below, we have answered the most frequently asked questions about Apple's waste production.
How much waste does Apple produce each year?
About 83,800 tonnes from their own operations in 2025, and an estimated 92,000 tonnes in 2026. The only waste figure Apple fully measures.
Does Apple report a single "total waste" number?
No. They report waste in separate parts and never combine them, so any single total is an estimate.
How much e-waste does Apple produce?
They don't report this. Only how much they recover and recycle which is around 40,000–48,000 tonnes a year, a fraction of the true total.
How much of Apple's waste is recycled?
Roughly 70–75% is kept out of landfill, reaching about 75% in 2025.
Has Apple removed plastic from their packaging?
Effectively yes. Down from 10% in 2018 to 0.4% in 2025, meeting their 2025 goal.
How much has Apple cut their carbon emissions?
By more than 60% since 2015, from 38.4 to about 15.3 million tonnes of CO₂e.
What is Apple's 2030 climate goal?
To be carbon neutral across their entire footprint, including a 90% emissions cut from their 2015 baseline.
Why is Apple's operational waste rising if they’re becoming greener?
Because they keep growing. More facilities and broader reporting mean higher absolute waste even as efficiency improves.
What is the biggest part of Apple's footprint?
Manufacturing — about 55% of a product's lifetime emissions. Apple's own offices are small by comparison.
