Apple Designates Apple Watch Series 9, SE and Ultra 2 Carbon Neutral

Apple designated its new Apple Watch Series 9, SE and Ultra 2 as carbon-neutral products, manufactured using 100% clean electricity and over 30% recycled materials by weight. The move sets a corporate benchmark for product-level carbon claims that Indian manufacturers and suppliers may face as global brands push value-chain decarbonization expectations.

Apple unveiled its first carbon-neutral products, designating the Apple Watch Series 9, SE and Ultra 2 as carbon neutral by sourcing 100% of manufacturing electricity from clean energy. The Series 9 and Ultra 2 incorporate more than 30% recycled materials by weight, including 100% recycled aluminium cases (used since Series 5), recycled gold plating, tin, rare earth elements, tungsten, copper foil and, newly, recycled cobalt in batteries. Apple ships 50% or more of these products via sea freight to cut transport emissions.

The initiative affects Apple's manufacturing supply chain, including component and materials suppliers expected to provide recycled inputs and clean-energy manufacturing. Packaging suppliers are affected by Apple's goal to eliminate plastic from all packaging by 2025; the more compact Series 9 packaging enables up to 25% more watches per shipment. Logistics providers must support increased sea-freight shipping. Suppliers worldwide, including Indian electronics and materials vendors serving global brands, may face similar recycled-content and clean-energy sourcing demands.

Suppliers to consumer-electronics brands should monitor expanding product-level carbon-neutral claims and associated requirements for recycled materials and clean-energy manufacturing. Companies should track Apple's 2025 plastic-free packaging deadline, which signals tightening packaging standards across the value chain. Indian manufacturers seeking to retain global brand contracts should assess capacity to supply recycled aluminium, cobalt and other inputs, and to demonstrate clean-electricity sourcing, as carbon-neutral product lines expand across the technology industry.

Key figure — Recycled content: over 30% by weight; packaging plastic-free target: 2025