Apple has joined forces with two of the world’s biggest aluminium producers to develop a “carbon-free” metal it plans to use in its iPhone and laptop computers. Canada is one of the world’s biggest aluminium producers and both Rio and Alcoa have significant operations in the country. The engineers found Alcoa had already designed a new process for smelting alumina, the raw material used to make the lightweight metal. Apple then brought in Rio, one of the world’s biggest aluminium producers, to help accelerate its development. In addition, the mining of bauxite, the basic raw material used to make aluminium, can also be a carbon-intensive process.

Source: The Irish Times May 11, 2018 15:11 UTC