RE: What's the deal with Apple's metallurgy team 'New Discovery'?
"recaptured fine shavings of aluminum that were re-engineered down to the atomic level".
That definitely sounds like fancy talk for something simple XD I love it
I wonder what the requirements are to call something "new". I assume something, might it be super tiny, had to change. Maybe using shavings for melting instead of blocks is all that is necessary for a name change. But then again, would that not mean that using your own shavings would be much cheaper then buying new aluminium? So why would they have waited so long to re-use it. Aluminium prices have been going down in the last 6 months, so re-using it now for savings is also not plausible.
I can imagine that using shavings might add impurities into your overall product and that results in loss of shininess or structure.
If the aluminium gets re-used after apple discards it, I think the recycling process (storage, transport) might add to the carbon footprint and their in-house use actually decreases the global footprint (by a tiny tiny fraction). But hey, every progress is good.
But even if it just follows a PR hype, reusing your own waste is a great mindset that every company should look at.
Here is a book recommendation in support of your comment: cradle to cradle. Give it a go...
That sentence made me laugh so badly as well!
Perhaps because prices are going down they can't sell their scrap aluminum at a high enough rate? But indeed it would also make it cheaper to just buy new aluminum, so I'm not sure that would be a factor. And transportation, how big or small that impact might be, is indeed a fare point I did not take into account!
Of course they don't lie, and it's a good example for other companies to follow, but when looking at it closely it amazes me how small changes can be marketed as big innovations. And whether that is 'fair' seems debatable to me.
As long as their products are made by people in buildings that need to have suicide prevention nets, I do not think you can ever use the word 'fair' to describe them.
I am unfortunately also guilty of spending more time thinking about environmental problems than humanitarian problems...