Apple Boosts Fund for Carbon Removal, Expands Recycled Materials Use

Apple announced a major expansion of its Restore Fund, doubling the company’s total commitment to advancing high-quality, nature-based carbon removal projects. The technology giant also announced a major acceleration of its work to expand recycled materials across its products.

The Restore Fund is part of the company’s comprehensive roadmap to become carbon neutral for its entire supply chain and the life cycle of every product by 2030. Apple says it will reduce 75% of all emissions by 2030 and balance the remaining emissions with high-quality carbon removal.

First launched in 2021 with an up to US$200 million commitment with Conservation International and Goldman Sachs, the Restore Fund is now set to grow with an additional fund, including new investment from Apple, and a new portfolio of carbon removal projects.

Apple created the Restore Fund to encourage global investment to protect and restore critical ecosystems and scale natural carbon removal solutions. This approach the firm claims, also helps address residual emissions businesses cannot yet avoid or reduce with existing technology.

As part of the expansion, Apple will invest up to an additional US$200 million in the new fund, which Climate Asset Management — a joint venture of HSBC Asset Management and Pollination — will manage.

The new portfolio also aims to remove 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year at its peak while generating a financial return for investors. For Apple suppliers that become partners in the fund, it will also offer a new way for them to incorporate high-impact carbon removal projects as they decarbonise.

“The Restore Fund is an innovative investment approach that generates real, measurable benefits for the planet, while aiming to generate a financial return,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. “The path to a carbon neutral economy requires deep decarbonisation paired with responsible carbon removal, and innovation like this can help accelerate the pace of progress.”

Apple and Climate Asset Management are taking a broadened approach with prospective projects, pooling two distinct types of investments: nature-forward agricultural projects that generate income from sustainably managed farming practices and projects that conserve and restore critical ecosystems that remove and store carbon from the atmosphere.

This blended fund structure aims to achieve both financial and climate benefits for investors while advancing a new model for carbon removal that more fully addresses the global potential for nature-based solutions. All Restore Fund investments are subject to rigorous social and environmental standards.

Already carbon neutral for its corporate operations, last year Apple called on its suppliers to become carbon neutral across all Apple-related operations by 2030, including all of their direct and electricity-related emissions, also known as Scope 1 and Scope 2.

Apple also announced a major acceleration of its work to expand recycled materials across its products, including a new 2025 target to use 100 percent recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries.

Additionally, by 2025, magnets in Apple devices will use entirely recycled rare earth elements, and all Apple-designed printed circuit boards will use 100 percent recycled tin soldering and 100 percent recycled gold plating. 

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