Apple stops using leather in a bid to “protect the planet”

Global tech giant, Apple, has made a bid to ditch leather across all its accessories and meet its net zero targets by 2030.

The US-based company promised to stop using leather in its watch straps and phone cases, according to the Telegraph. Instead, it would be replaced with "FineWoven", a material made using 68% recycled textiles and other artificial fibres.

Lisa Jackson, Vice President for Environment at Apple, said the company’s aim was to "make products customers love and protect the planet at the same time".

Jackson continued: "Leather is a popular material for accessories, but it has a significant carbon footprint, especially at Apple’s scale. To reduce our impact, we will no longer use leather in any new Apple product, including watchbands."

Jeff Williams, Chief Operating Officer at Apple, said the new fabric has a "suede-like" feel and, more importantly, a "significantly lower carbon footprint than leather".

This announcement was made simultaneously to the unveiling of Apple’s new smartphone and smartwatch ranges. Not only has Apple ditched leather, but it has also revamped its packaging to cut down the use of raw materials. The Apple Watch packaging is now entirely fibre based and smaller, cutting the space it needs when being transported by 25%.

After reducing emissions in their production and shipping by 75%, the tech company claimed its watches were now “carbon neutral”. Other changes included using more recycled materials in iPhone prodcution, such as introducing batteries that include 100% recycled cobalt and 100% recycled rare earth metals.

Despite the new materials in use, the iPhone 15 will cost £799, which is less than the iPhone 14 when it launched last September.