Apple sued Geep, a Canadian electronics recycling outfit, after it caught the recycling company illegally peddling over 100,000 Apple devices that are due for recycling.
Apple has filed a complaint against Canada-based Geep, an electronics recycling company, after the Cupertino tech giant caught it illegally selling more than 100,000 Apple Watches, iPhones, and iPads. Reports say that Apple sent the recycling company some 531,966 iDevices between 2015 and 2017 which Geep is tasked to recycle.
However, a later investigation by Apple showed that Geep is moving some of the devices, which include Apple Watches, iPhones, and iPads to a different warehouse where company personnel refurbish and later sell them. In the complaint it filed, Apple said it conducted an audit at the Canadian company's warehouse and found out that many of the units it sent Geep cannot be accounted for. Apple then did some testing and discovered that approximately 18% of the units, which are due for disassembly and recycling, were in use on various cellular carriers' networks.
Geep, which had an agreement with Apple to disassemble and recycle Apple Watches, iPhones, and iPads, admitted some of the products were illegally sold instead of recycled, but blamed the unlawful deed to three of its employees, which Apple later identified as Geep executives. Apple also made it very clear that reselling an old device is not the same as recycling it.
Geep should not have violated an agreement that they (presumably) signed.
But itshould be illegal to force destruction of working electronics. @apple claims to be an eco-responsible company but 'recycle' is the LAST of the 3 Rs for GOOD REASON... https://t.co/Uo8njT0Qjl — Linus Tech Tips (@LinusTech) October 2, 2020
In its complaint, Apple revealed that Geep has illegally sold more than 100,000 of Apple Watches, iPhones, and iPads it sent to the recycling company, which reportedly earned them a profit. Apple is claiming 100% of the profits that Geep made from the illegal sale of the products and an additional 31 million dollars by way of damages.
Apple sues electronics recycling company GEEP Canada for allegedly stealing and reselling nearly 100,000 iPhones, iPads, and Watches it was supposed to recycle (Zane Schwartz/The Logic) https://t.co/wmRog5E5BV #TechNews #TechTips pic.twitter.com/IF8ovhRFBC — Vanuatu Tech Feed (@vanuatutech) October 1, 2020
Apple is serious about recycling devices and dedicates substantial resources to prevent its old devices from ending up in landfills. It even buys recycled materials whenever possible to help in the global ecological effort. Apple said the actual number of Apple Watches, iPhones, and iPads due for recycling but were illegally sold by Geep executives is only an estimate as the company was unable to verify the status of Apple Watches and iPads that do not connect to cellular networks.
Apple sues GEEP Canada, claiming it stole items it was supposed to recycle https://t.co/tdhSfhMsF1 pic.twitter.com/IhktkoZqvU — Steph Molliex (@stephmolliex) October 1, 2020
The Cupertino-based company also revealed that it filed the complaint in January of this year but it was only in July that Geep filed its response. For its part, Geep said it wanted to see its own executives who illegally sold the Apple Watches, iPhones, and iPads that are due for recycling to pay for any damages demanded by Apple.
