In 2016, Apple increased efforts to reduce and ultimately eliminate manufacturing waste sent to landfills by expanding its UL Zero Waste to Landfill validation program to all final assembly sites in China. The program is the first comprehensive standard for waste conversion and calculation, with a focus on waste stream management compliance, inspection and auditing.

The total volume of waste diverted from landfills more than doubled year-on-year, from nearly 74,000 metric tons in 2015 to more than 200,000 metric tons in 2016. The number of suppliers certified globally via third-party audit as zero waste has also increased from one factory in 2015 to 15 suppliers in 2016. The reduction performance of 14 suppliers in China in 2016 is shown below (unit of measure: tons):

One of the participants is Tech-Com in Shanghai. Apple discovered that more than 20 percent of the waste produced by Tech-Com was being incinerated or going to landfills. Apple partnered with the supplier and their local recycling facility to develop a better process for separating and recycling waste. As a result, Tech-Com is now able to recycle all of their manufacturing waste. Tech-Com also developed a new process for managing food waste, allowing the supplier to send it to a local composter instead of a landfill. Tech-Com then used what they had learned to develop a process for their own suppliers that helps them collect and reuse packaging material. Since the program started, Tech-Com has diverted more than 10,000 metric tons of waste from landfills.