[tasoeur]

I really appreciate their effort to go towards more recycling, but to me a lot of this is completely moot as long as they don’t provide a stronger incentive to surrender your old devices for recycling. It’s actually really simple to reach $0 trade-in value due to absolutely silly things like a scratched display. Why would I be giving you back my iPhone for free when even glass bottles are $0.5 when recommissioned…

[benoau]

It's all just marketing fluff, their 2030 goal is carbon neutrality but their gross emissions are 15 million tons a year and they only offset 70 thousand. They'd probably achieve more just by putting HDMI, DisplayPort and Target Display Mode into their monitors and iMacs.

https://images.apple.com/environment/pdf/Apple_Environmental...

[ambicapter]

> Why would I be giving you back my iPhone for free

As opposed to what? trashing it? You'd rather throw your iPhone in the trash than just hand it to them when you're in the store already?

[some_random]

Resale or sticking it in a drawer "just in case"

[bilbo0s]

Not throwing it away is a win though.

It's the throwing it away that is the problem.

Not having a phone in the first place is the best for the environment. Failing that, having someone else reuse that phone is best. Only if all else fails is recycling the preferred option.

So of course people are going to concentrate on the problem of people just throwing these things away. And that's for anything. Not just phones.

[BobaFloutist]

Sticking in a drawer "just in case" is throwing it away while it takes up space in your house and can't be recycled.

[bogdan]

Excuse my ignorance, I have always been an Android user, but are iPhones not resalable?

[jasonpbecker]

Of course they are, and the order "reduce, reuse, recycle" are in that order for a reason-- reuse (via resale) is superior to recycling the product itself.

[bombcar]

Since they offer the EDU discount they might as well offer a blanket “it boots get $100 off” deal for returned machines.

Though the cost of responsibly recycle and dispose of an old computer might make the $0 offer actually a decent one.

[roryirvine]

They already do that in the UK https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/trade-in

Google do similar, as do most electronics retailers.

Is that not not a thing in the US? Perhaps it ought to be.

[bombcar]

Only in some areas, and only voluntarily (perhaps except for CA) - Apple will take a computer I believe, but sometimes you get $0 'value' from it.

If they offer even anything, you'll get a lot more pickup - everyone will learn "get a discount at the Apple Store if you bring in an old PC" and reduce the amount of electronic waste.

However, done too well or for too much, and you could greatly reduce the availability of older still-working machines.

[jonhohle]

If they’re recycling it, what does it matter if it boots? The aluminum is worth nothing? I’m sure there’s bits of gold and other things.

[bombcar]

It could be a low bar for "you can't bring in a destroyed remains of a Mac Classic and get the discount" - but actually, allowing that would be a net good for the world, and wouldn't cost more than the (easily gamed) EDU discount anyway.

[changoplatanero]

You know the reason why you get five cents back for a recycling a glass bottle, right? It’s because the government taxed you when you bought the drink and now you’re getting the tax rebate for recycling It’s not related to the value of the materials.

[tasoeur]

I actually didn’t know! Thanks for pointing that out.

[Someone]

It’s not like recycling through other means is hard, is it?

I expect most of that 30% recycled material is from other sources than traded in devices.