Living interactive surfaces, color-changing biomaterials, California’s climate satellite; iPhones add bioplastic; hemp manufacturing, amino acids from wood The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of September 27th

#4 Latest iPhones to include biobased plastic

In California, Apple has announced that the latest version of its ubiquitous iPhone smartphone will feature renewable materials—among other sustainable improvements—in an effort to combat electronics waste.

“As a country, we’re throwing hundreds of thousands of devices in the trash every day. We have a huge e-waste problem,” Gabe Middleton, co-founder and CEO of tech recycling company Human I-T, tells MindBodyGreen.

The iPhone XR and iPhone X will use 32% biobased plastic in their frames. The speaker enclosures of the two new models will also include 35% post-consumer recycled plastic.

Apple, which has sold 2 billion devices, is also trying to eliminate the need to mine new materials, Apple’s vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives Lisa Jackson said during Apple’s recent launch even. Apple also encouraged users to recycle their older phones, and noted they recently developed Daisy, a robot that can dissemble 200 old iPhones an hour to reclaim materials.