Apple is suing the Canadian company GEEP, which was a partner in the recycling of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watchs. According to Apple, between 2015 and 2017, more than half a million devices were sent to the company in order for them to be dismantled and the metals from which they are made to be recycled. However, GEEP chose to renovate more than 100,000 of those devices, and then resell them on the free market. Apple sees this as a breach of contract and even an act of theft.
The Canadian company does not deny at all that indeed a large quantity of devices that were supposed to be sent for recycling, have found their way back to the store shelves. However, GEEP claims that this is not a company policy, but a “private initiative” of some employees who stole the devices and resold them independently. Apple is unwilling to accept this explanation for a simple reason: those employees were actually among the company’s top executives.
And why is Apple in principle opposed to the devices being refurbished and sold? After all, this still achieved the main goal for which the companies cooperated, and that is saving the amount of waste that eventually finds its way to polluting landfills. In this regard, Apple claims that devices that the company has chosen to send for recycling are devices that can in no way be returned to a proper and proper condition, which meets its high standards. “If they are repaired using improvised parts, it could pose serious safety hazards, including battery or electrical malfunctions,” the company said in a statement.
Apple revealed as early as 2017 about the affair, when an investigation revealed that a significant percentage of those devices sent for recycling are still connected to the network. Even then, the two companies stopped cooperating, but as mentioned, only now has the dispute reached a legal level, with Apple expecting compensation of at least $ 22 million.
