* Apple makes thin, light, durable products. Reduce > Recycle.
* Raw materials are a small amount of the embodied energy in electronics. The microchips themselves constitute many times the embodied energy. Again, reduce > recycle.
* As others have pointed out, Apple didn't do this because any of their newly-released products weren't eligible.
Putting it all together, Apple did this to send a message to EPEAT: "Disassembly isn't the end-all be-all of green." Looks like EPEAT caved.
* Apple makes thin, light, durable products. Reduce > Recycle.
* Raw materials are a small amount of the embodied energy in electronics. The microchips themselves constitute many times the embodied energy. Again, reduce > recycle.
* As others have pointed out, Apple didn't do this because any of their newly-released products weren't eligible.
Putting it all together, Apple did this to send a message to EPEAT: "Disassembly isn't the end-all be-all of green." Looks like EPEAT caved.