Apple’s New iPhone-Shredding Robot Has Good Intentions

The new shredder-bot, Taz, is not the first fully-automated robot constructed by Apple for the purpose of repurposing old Apple electronics. It’s actually the third in its line, supplementing Daisy, which itself succeeded Liam. The former, which reportedly recycles 200 iPhones per hour, according to Apple, can now tear down 23 different varieties of iPhone for parts. Liam was revealed in the year 2016 and Daisy was introduced in 2018.

Taz differs from Daisy in that its mechanisms are designed specifically to break down certain iPhone parts that Daisy wasn’t quite able to separate. Its shredding automation allows the separation of magnets from audio modules and breaks parts down in a way that allows Apple to harvest rare earth elements. Using Taz, Apple will be able to expand its process of using recycled materials for new products. For example, both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro were the first Apple products to use the company’s own certified recycled gold. Apple products released in the year 2021 also included recycled tin, recycled cobalt, and a number of certified recycled rare earth elements in their construction.

Apple also noted that it uses a third robot, named Dave, to disassemble Taptic Engines found in iPhone and Apple Watch devices. Inside each Taptic Engine is an amount of precious tungsten and steel, which Apple also seeks to recycle and reuse in future products.