We all know what a car junkyard is. Either we have ever been, or we have seen it on TV. Old vehicles are dismantled for recycling. With them, steel and other materials are again available to re-manufacture new components.
With the same idea, Apple has Daisy. And it is not exactly Nintendo's Princess Daisy who is a friend of Mario, but a high-tech robot that is capable of disassembling 200 used iPhones per hour in order to extract its components and recycle them.
In 2018 Apple introduced its Daisy robot. A machine designed to dismantle iPhones automatically, in order to efficiently recover the valuable natural materials that are stored in mobile phones. They have it in Austin (Texas), and it is capable of destroying 200 mobiles per hour.
Now, in a new interview published in Reuters, Apple's vice president of environmental, political and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson, explains how the company works to recycle its used devices.
Daisy robot disassembles 200 used iPhones every hour
He says in said interview that Daisy is specialized in disassembling obsolete iPhones. It uses a four-step process to remove the battery from the mobile, with a jet of pressurized air at 80 degrees of temperature. He then removes screws and components, including the haptic monitor.
Once the different components are separated, they are sent to different recyclers so that the minerals are extracted and refined to be used again as raw material. Up to 14 minerals can be extracted, including Lithium.
The report concludes by saying that Apple is considering sharing Daisy's technology with other companies, including those of electric car manufacturers, to help preserve the environment.
The idea of the Cupertino people is that one day they will be able to manufacture 100% of their products with recycled materials without needing to continue consuming more minerals extracted from the Earth. Will they get it?