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Apple hires numerous external companies to recycle its devices, aiming to recover the crucial materials inside iPhones and iPads. Photo: Apple . |
According to AppleInsider , Apple has unexpectedly withdrawn its $23 million lawsuit against recycling company Geep Canada after five years of pursuing legal action.
GEEP Canada, now owned by Quantum Lifecycle Partners, is Apple's recycling partner. From January 2015 to December 2017, Apple shipped over 500,000 iPhones, more than 25,000 iPads, and 19,000 Apple Watches to GEEP for recycling.
However, during the audit, Apple found that 18% of those devices were still connected to a cellular network. This number does not include devices with only WiFi connectivity, such as the GPS version of the Apple Watch, so the actual number could be even higher.
Apple then tracked the serial numbers of the devices sent to Geep and compared them to devices activated on mobile networks in China. From this, Apple alleges Geep resold at least 103,845 iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches.
In January 2020, the iPhone manufacturer officially filed a lawsuit against Geep demanding a full refund of the device sales revenue and compensation of $22.7 million .
However, the recycling company stated that they did nothing wrong, claiming the incident occurred due to employees committing fraud by taking the devices without permission. Geep said they would require the three employees to compensate them for the proceeds from the sale of the devices and for damages resulting from Apple's cancellation of the contract.
Filing the lawsuit appears to be the only legal action Apple has taken. AppleInsider reveals that as of 2024, no court proceedings have taken place, nor has Apple taken any further legal action.
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