Apple reveals free product recycling initiative

Apple has ramped up its environmental efforts across the world, with every Apple Store now taking back and recycling any unwanted Apple products, responsibly and for free.

In the last 20 years, Cupertino's recycling programs alone have diverted more than 191,000 tonnes of electronic equipment from landfills.

According to the tech giant, energy efficiency has been an important feature of Apple products for many years, and with hundreds of millions of products sold each year, it adds up quickly.

Since 2008, the company claims to have reduced the average power consumption of Apple products by 57 percent, with today's iMac using 0.9 watts of electricity in sleep mode — 97 percent less than the first iMac.

Data Centers...

Apple data centers are powered entirely by 100 percent renewable energy, running services like Siri, the iTunes Store, the App Store, Maps and iMessage.

As a result, Apple says every time a song is downloaded from iTunes, an app is installed from the Mac App Store, or a book is downloaded from iBooks, the energy used is provided by nature.

Representing a major leap for the global organisation, Apple is now powering 94 percent of its global corporate facilities with renewable energy, up from only 35 percent in 2010.

Earth Day...

Celebrating Earth Day, the company has also made some major changes to its environment website, detailing the progress the company is making when it comes to environmental responsibility.

"At Apple, we strive to reduce our impact on climate change, find ways to use greener materials and conserve resources for future generations," said Apple's official YouTube video page, introducing the company's new video narrated by Apple CEO, Tim Cook.