Apple equipment was supposed to be recycled. It turns out it was different
One of Apple’s subcontractors, which recycles devices marked with a bitten apple, may have committed serious misconduct. It turns out that some of the equipment could be put on the market again.
Apple has a serious image problem. Geep Canada, the subcontractor responsible for recycling the withdrawn devices, may have committed serious irregularities.
8 million devices to be recycled annually?
Tim Cook’s company boasts that it recycles 8 million end-of-life devices every year. For this purpose, it cooperates with subcontractors. One of them is Geep Canada. Customers can use the Apple GiveBack program, thanks to which they can get a discount when purchasing new equipment. Such devices should be recycled. For example, Macbook cases are made from aluminum recovered in this way. They should, because it turns out it could have been different.
There will be a trial
The suspicious company has been an Apple partner since 2014. In late 2017, Apple employees began to encounter inaccuracies in reports. It turned out that over 100,000 “disappeared” under unclear circumstances. devices that should be recycled. They started checking the serial number of the equipment and… it turned out that up to 18 percent. of them still work and receive the LTE network from mobile operators.
Geep Canada admitted that after checking the recycling process, it estimated that up to 100,000 could have left the company. devices. Dishonest employees found gaps in the monitoring and took away equipment that was supposed to be destroyed.
Apple demands a refund of… $23 million
Geep Canada now has to deal with the consequences. Apple is demanding a refund of the full amount of device sales, as well as $23 million in compensation for image losses. Recycling has been a large part of the company’s promoted image in recent years. Geep Canada says it will sue three employees.
