Apple now expanding global recycling program to US Best Buy and Netherland KPN retailers

In an effort to increase it’s usage of recycled or renewable materials to make its products, Apple today announced that it will be adding some new locations for customers to recycle their old iPhones. In addition to Apple Stores and Apple’s online site (initially the only two ways to recycle your device), customers can now recycle their iPhones at Best Buy locations in the US and KPN locations in the Netherlands.

“We’re almost trying to remake the current supply chain for technology because right now that has not been one of the goals of technology,” said Lisa Jackson, Vice President of Apple’s Environment, Policy and Social initiatives. “Tech is all about getting innovations into the hands of potential customers as fast as possible, and I don’t think a lot of folks are considering part of that innovation to be using recycled material.”

The recycling will be done by a custom built recycling robot called Daisy, which Apple introduced just last year. Daisy can take apart 1.2 million used iPhones per year, or 200 phones per hour, and recover the reusable parts. In addition, the robot can disassemble 15 different types of iPhones, up from only 8 last year. Apple currently has two such robots, which themselves are upgrades from a recycling robot named Liam, which was about 3 times the size of Daisy.

In order to make the most of this recycling program, Apple has also announced that it is opening a new 9000 square foot “Material Recovery Lab” in Austin, Texas. This lab would focus on trying to find solutions to today’s industry recycling challenges.

You can read more about Apple’s press release here.