Alongside the launch of the iPhone 15 and its decision to drop leather, Apple claimed that, with select case and band combinations, the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch SE are its first certified carbon neutral products.
However, Monique Goyens, Director-General of European consumer organisation BEUC, told the Financial Times: “Carbon neutral claims are scientifically inaccurate and mislead consumers. The EU’s recent decision to ban carbon neutral claims will rightly clear the market of such bogus messages, and Apple Watches should be no exception.”
BEUC is an umbrella group for 45 independent consumer organisations from 31 countries, based in Brussels, Belgium.
Apple says that its carbon neutral products are certified by SCS Global Services and meet the following criteria: 100% clean electricity for manufacturing and product use, 30% recycled or renewable material by weight and 50% of shipping without the use of air transportation. In addition, it uses “high-quality carbon credits” to cover the remaining emissions.
The European Union has since said that will ban neutrality claims based on carbon credit purchases in order to avoid misleading advertisements, but has not yet entered it into law, but a vote by MEPs is expected to take place in November 2023.
Gilles Dufrasne, Policy Officer at Carbon Market Watch, told the FT: “It’s misleading to consumers to give the impression that buying the Watch has no impact on the climate at all. It’s accounting tricks.”
Source: Financial Times
