Summary
Details
- Global
The Apple Supplier Code of Conduct applies to all Apple suppliers, their affiliates and subcontractors/sub-tiers whose operations contribute to Apple products.
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Background
Introduced in 2005, Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct and detailed Standards (latest version 4.10: effective November 1, 2023) formalized its earlier supplier-auditing and improvement work, and now sit within Apple 2030, the company’s value-chain decarbonization plan. Together, they require suppliers to run robust environmental programs while Apple advances clean electricity and low-carbon design across its products and operations. The Code is Apple’s operational lever for supply-chain climate action, aligned to its net-zero strategy for 2030. Beyond climate, the Code addresses waste management, hazardous substances, wastewater and air emissions controls, resource efficiency, and environmental management systems. It also sets expectations on labor and human rights, health & safety, ethics, and management systems that cascade to sub-tier suppliers.
GHG Emissions Management
Apple requires suppliers to operate a full-cycle GHG program covering the following elements:
Company-wide inventory: Maintain a current, electronic GHG inventory that covers the supplier’s entire company, and that also identifies facility-level emissions for all facilities involved with Apple products.
Targets and reductions: Regularly quantify emissions, set targets, monitor progress, and reduce GHG emissions from company-wide operations.
Allocation to Apple and “Covered Carbon Footprint”: Identify and allocate the portion of the supplier’s operational emissions attributable to Apple-related activities using an Apple-approved Emissions Allocation Method.
Annual reporting (and on request): Report annually to Apple the supplier’s GHG emissions, targets, reductions, and progress for the Covered Carbon Footprint, and be prepared to share the electronic inventory upon request.
Implementation Status
Apple embeds GHG tracking within a rigorous oversight system. Supplier sites undergo third-party assessments, document reviews, and worker interviews, with results published in Apple’s People and Environment in Our Supply Chain reports. Operationally, Apple drives decarbonization through its Supplier Clean Energy Program and Supplier Energy Efficiency Program. In October 2022, Apple told major manufacturing and logistics partners to decarbonize their entire Apple-related footprint by 2030 (covering Scope 1–2 for Apple production). To accelerate Apple 2030, the Code now requires all direct manufacturing suppliers to use 100% renewable electricity for Apple production before 2030. While Apple doesn’t publish GHG-specific enforcement stats, the breadth and strictness of its overall assessment program indicate these requirements are actively reviewed.
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