“Apple uncovered a seemingly welcome surprise by recovering over a ton of gold from old devices you recycled,” Don Reisinger reports for Fortune.
“The tech giant revealed in its annual Environmental Responsibility Report this week that it recovered 2,204 pounds of gold, valued at millions of dollars in material,” Reisinger reports. “While the recycling could be viewed as a nice cash infusion for most, for Apple, one of the richest companies in the world with hundreds of millions of cash in the bank, it’s a pittance. What’s more, Apple isn’t using the material to cash it in, but rather to reuse it for its future production efforts.”
“On Thursday, Apple extended its conservation credibility by announcing a new program, dubbed Apps for Earth,” Reisinger reports. “Through April 24, Apple will donate 100% of the proceeds from 27 apps, including Yoga Studio and Angry Birds 2, to the World Wildlife Fund.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Here, like we did more than once way back when for certain classmates who will remain nameless, we’ll do the math for you:
2,204 pounds is 32,141 troy ounces of gold @ 1,235.55/troy ounce or $39,711,812.55 worth of reclaimed gold from iPhones.
There’s gold in them thar phones!
The gold alone is worth a lot more than the iphones even when they’re brand new!
And how much pocket lint? 😊
Isn’t it 12 troy ounces to the pound? I’ll let you redo the math.
12 troy ounces per *troy* lb. 14.5833 troy ounces per pound. MDN is right.
A check before criticizing can minimize embarrassment.
Cheers!
How many ounces (down to the hundredth please) are in each iPhone?
-Or-
How many iPhones is that?
Wish someone would recover the lithium from all the spent batteries.
They do. Why would you think otherwise?
So, Apple has a supplemental “cheap” source of gold for those $10,000 “Edition” Apple Watches? 🙂
Reminds me more about why we have the metric system. Those itches and scratches with pinky and a feet in the mouth are not even silly, but stupid.
Never mind crashing spacecraft onto Mars over it…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter
The real important point is that they don’t have to destroy the earth to dig up more gold that has already been dug up! Mining is a very chemical intensive and dirty sport.
Moral of the story…
Demand more upon trade-in and recycling.
Hmmmm… wonder if any chemicals might be used to extract that gold?
There is a difference between Troy Ounces (gold). Avoirdupois Ounces (rice)
Troy Ounces vs. Avoirdupois Ounces
A Guide to Understanding Precious Metal Weights
The standard weight measure for all precious metal is Troy ounces and pounds. All legal tender silver, gold, and platinum coins are struck in troy ounce sizes, not Avoirdupois ounces (which are used for coarse dry weights such as grain, flour, sugar, tea, etc.)
The term Avoirdupois was adapted from the French phrase “aveir de pois” or “aver de peis” – which roughly translates to mean “goods of weight.” Precious metals, gems, and drugs use the Troy system. By the way, the Troy system is NOT named for the Ancient Greek city of Troy, but for Troyes, France – where they were first introduced. Troy weights are also called Apothecary weights.
Here are the basic comparisons between Troy & Avoirdupois Weights:
Troy Ounces are LARGER than Avoirdupois Ounces.
1 Troy Ounce = 31.1034768 grams
1 Avoirdupois Ounce = 28.3495 grams
In other words, a 1 ounce silver coin is HEAVIER than an ounce of tea.
Troy Pounds are SMALLER than Avoirdupois Pounds
12 Troy Ounces = 1 Troy Pound (which is 373.242 grams)
16 Avoirdupois Ounces = 1 Avoirdupois Pound (which is 453.592 grams)
In other words, a 1 Troy pound bag of silver coins is LIGHTER than a pound bag of rice.
http://www.govmint.com/pages/troy-ounces-vs-avoirdupois-ounces
This all assumes 24 karat gold.
I asked Siri how much 2000 pounds of gold is worth. Here is “her” answer:
Raw gold = $886.15 Number of gold grams in 1 troy oz. = 31.1 Highest karat weight = 24 Karat value equated for = 24 886.15 / 31.1 / 24 x 24 = $28.49 per gram.There are 908000 grams in 2000 lbs. So that works out to $25,868,920.