Meet Daisy, Apple's Recycling Robot 🤖
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The Ten News Season 3: Episode 70
We're closing out Season 3 today! 🤖 Meet Apple's iPhone Recycling Robot with Sarah Chandler, VP of Environment & Supply Chain Innovation at Apple 📣 Ten'ers share their special Father's Day shout-outs on the show 📱 Trivia with Tessa: do you know how many dollars worth of gold & silver is thrown away just from phones in the US?
Photo credit: Apple
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TRANSCRIPT:
Pamela Kirkland 00:01
It's the last day of Season 3! Who's ready for the studio cleanup and recycle party? Hey, Tessa. Hey, Pete. Why does Ryan look like he's making a mess over there?
Tessa Flannery 00:19
He heard about Apple's recycling robot and decided to build his own.
Pamela Kirkland 00:24
Aren't you two the ones that usually build the cool things around here?
Tessa Flannery 00:28
Yep.
Pamela Kirkland 00:30
And, you're not helping him?
Pete Musto 00:32
Sometimes you gotta let people work it out themselves.
Ryan Willard 00:36
Got it? Yes, it's ready. Greetings, nonbelievers. I have built a robot to help with our planet's pollution problem by automating recycling. It's called The Rycycle Bot. Check it out.
Rycycle Bot 00:50
Greetings, wasteful humans. I have am the Rycycle Bot and I shall consume and rycycle everything in my path, starting with the most intelligent humans and then my creator.
Pamela Kirkland 01:05
Ryan, shut it down.
Ryan Willard 01:10
Okay, yeah, I think it's still in beta. So maybe we should start the show.
Pamela Kirkland 01:15
Now. That's a great idea. I'm Pamela Kirkland.
Ryan Willard 01:18
And I'm Ryan Willard. It's Wednesday, June 21st.
Pamela Kirkland 01:21
This is The Ten News.
Sound Bit 01:23
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Pamela Kirkland 01:32
Recycling is definitely one of the smartest and coolest things we can do for the planet. And we heard about a really cool new recycling robot that Apple built. So Ryan, you were on the right track, but I think you should talk to... Ry? Where's Ryan?
Pete Musto 01:50
He ran out of the studio after his robot friend tried to eat us.
Pamela Kirkland 01:54
Oh, boy. One sec.
Ryan Willard 01:59
I got great news.
Pamela Kirkland 02:00
Where are you? And what are you doing?
Ryan Willard 02:03
I snuck into Apple's Campus. I'm currently crawling through a ventilation shaft.
Pamela Kirkland 02:08
Why would you sneak in? Tracy knows someone from Apple and we're scheduled to talk with them.
Ryan Willard 02:15
Yes! I think I'm right above an office. But, how do I get in? Ow! think I hurt my pancreas...
Sarah Chandler 02:29
Hi, I'm guessing you're Ryan?
Ryan Willard 02:33
Are you a psychic?
Sarah Chandler 02:35
No, I'm Sarah Chandler. Tracy told me you'd be making an unconventional entrance. You know, there was a security badge waiting for you at the front desk, right?
Ryan Willard 02:44
Yeah, I thought those ventilation shafts were like a new type of elevator slash McDonald's play place. Anyway, now that I'm here, I have some questions for you. First off, who are you? Where are you from? And what do you do?
Sarah Chandler 02:58
I am Sarah Chandler. I am from a small farm town in Massachusetts. But I've lived in California for a really long time. I get to lead a team at Apple focused on how our products like how iPhones are made, and how we can best care for people and our planet. It's called Apple's Environment and Supply Chain Innovation Team.
Ryan Willard 03:23
Okay, that is incredibly cool. And I know that Apple is one of the biggest and most innovative corporations in the world. But I'm curious, what does Apple think about sustainability?
Sarah Chandler 03:33
So, the short answer is it's part of everything we do, we're really always looking to make the world better than we found it and to empower others to do the same. And that mission includes our focus on protecting the planet. It's been a top value of Apple for a really long time, you have probably all heard that we need to take some pretty serious actions to help stop the worst effects of climate change. So we've set a big goal there, which is that by 2030, we will be what's called carbon neutral. That means the entire process for creating each of our products will have net zero carbon impact. So carbon impacts are a big piece of the puzzle when it comes to climate change. And lowering them as much as possible is a great thing that we can all do to help. We are also focused on the energy that's used in our supply chain, the many people processes, even partner companies that all work together to create products, and then help to find ways to share them with the world to get them to your door, for example, and things like that. We're trying to figure out how to use more recycled and responsible materials, not just in the product, but also in the packaging that it comes in. And our big, audacious goal here is that one day we're going to make products using only recycled or renewable materials. So all of these different things come together, you can probably tell I get pretty excited about the hem.
Ryan Willard 05:03
I heard a rumor from someone at The Ten News that says there is a robot that y'all have been building named, Daisy. So, I want to know, who is Daisy? And what does Daisy do?
Sarah Chandler 05:16
This is why you came through the ceiling?
Ryan Willard 05:19
Correct.
Sarah Chandler 05:19
Daisy is a robot we invented to help us recycle. Specifically, she takes apart iPhones, and makes sure that we can get the most out of the parts and materials inside. So when Apple builds a product, we want it to last a really long time, the goal is for you to use it for many, many years. But eventually, after years and years of use, products need to be recycled. And we built Daisy to help us with that.
Ryan Willard 05:47
How long did it take to go from the idea of Daisy to the fully formed recycling robot?
Sarah Chandler 05:54
Our team put years of hard work into creating Daisy, we had a lot of innovations on the way to Daisy. And I think, you know, maybe similar to hiring really smart people at Apple to design and create new products, we also have incredible people thinking about their impact on the planet and how we can improve existing recycling technologies. I will say innovation is you know, a really key thing in realizing the potential of recycling and looking at for those gaps and figuring out where you can improve. But I'll also say that we had ideas that we had to improve ourselves, right, and the first generation of Daisy took 12 minutes to take apart one iPhone, Daisy, today can do 200 units per hour. So along the way, we had to improve a lot of our own designs, right? So every time we hit something that looked like a failure, kind of pushing through and using that innovation to say, what else can we do here? What can we learn from this failure was really, really important. And we're still doing that your work still continues, we still have some of the greatest opportunities for recycling yet to come. So I think, you know, we're gonna always be improving, always trying to push forward, always creating new pathways, and staying focused on where we can make things better.
Ryan Willard 07:19
Do you think it might be possible that I could get a virtual tour or some sort of tour to check Daisy out because I'm super curious to see this in action!
Sarah Chandler 07:29
Yeah, let's go meet Daisy. I'm gonna find Patrick and he can take us.
Ryan Willard 07:34
Also, can we stop at the snack room? Because I know you guys have a cool snack room.
Sarah Chandler 07:37
I love snacks.
Ryan Willard 07:38
That sounds like it. Yes. Okay, let's go.
Patrick 07:44
Hey, Ryan. So I heard you made quite the entrance into Sarah's office. We're definitely glad to hear that you're so excited about recycling, you've definitely come to the right place. Let's go check in on how she's doing.
Ryan Willard 08:00
So, this is Daisy?
Patrick 08:01
Daisy is Apple's iPhone recycling robot, and she can disassemble 23 models of iPhone in one robotic system. She does this by using advanced machine learning vision systems and robotics to identify what iPhone she's trying to recycle and make sure she does it the best way possible. Daisy is about 30 feet long and is made up of five different robots. The first robot takes all the phones in and starts identifying which model it's working with, and then opens them up to remove the display from the rest of the iPhone. At that point, Daisy takes the iPhone and starts removing the battery. And the way that he does this is really cool, which he actually does is blowing really, really cold air about minus 80 degrees Celsius right onto the battery. And that makes it so that it is no longer attached to the rest of the iPhone, and can quickly fall out so that it can be sent to a battery recycler. After she has removed the battery. She then moves on to removing all of the screws that hold in the components of the iPhone, things like the speaker module, the main logic board, and the haptic module, which is the one that makes it so that the phone vibrates when something happens. Daisy removes all these screws by punching them out. So it's like a paper punch a hole punch. That is just a big industrial version and can just push all of those screws out the back of the phone, those screws have been removed. The last step for Daisy is to remove all those components and separate them into different bins so they can be sent to the best recycler, to maximize the amount of material at the highest quality that she can recycle. This does all of this really really quickly as well. Processing about 200 iPhones every hour. And all this recycling that Daisy does has a huge impact. For every metric ton of main logic boards, cameras, and flexes recycled by Daisy. It avoids mining, over 2000 metric tons of rock If that's the weight of about 50, humpback whales, it has a huge impact and really helps our planet. And that's why it's so important for all of us to make sure that when we have old electronics, we're getting them to somebody who might be able to use them to extend their useful life. Or if they're no longer usable, we make sure that they get recycled at the highest quality with things like Daisy.
Ryan Willard 10:21
Okay, this is super impressive and has given me a lot of ideas for my Rycycle Bot, though I'm pretty sure mine is superior technology. But you know, no one's judging. But, Patrick, thank you for the tour, and keep up the good work, Daisy.
Patrick 10:35
Bye, Ryan, thanks so much for stopping in to visit us and check it out. Daisy's waving goodbye, too!
Ryan Willard 10:42
Thank you so much for your time, Sarah. We really appreciate your knowledge, your time, and for literally letting me crash into your office.
Pamela Kirkland 10:50
Thank you. That's so cool that Ryan got to meet Daisy. I'm so excited to see what else Apple's innovation team comes up with. I must say, hearing about Daisy definitely inspired me. Father's Day was on June 18th and we asked you to tell us the most fun thing you and your dad do together. For example, my dad and I go bowling. So, let's go to the Ten'ers and see what they had to say.
Ten'er 11:28
My name is Maddie and my dad's name is James. My favorite thing to do with him is play board games in the basement. I love you, Dad.
Ten’er 11:32
Hi, I'm Owen, Tracy's son. And I would like to wish my dad, Jonathan a Happy Father's Day. One thing I like to do with my dad is go skiing with me, him, and my sister at Lake Tahoe. Happy Father's Day, Dad! My name is Jackson. I am nine years old. And my dad is awesome for taking me to Yankee games. We have lots of fun.
Ten’er 11:59
My name is Nicolas. I'm 11 years old. And my dad is awesome because he taught me how to play baseball and he coaches both of my baseball teams. Hello, my name is Bennett and my dad's name is Carl. He is amazing in every way. My favorite thing to do with them is mountain biking. Love you, Dad!
Ten'ers 12:29
Hi, my name is Everett. My dad's name is Carl. My favorite thing to do with my dad is bike ride because he's really good at it. I love you, dad.
Ten'er 12:39
Hi, my name is Henry and my dad's name is James. What I like to do with my dad is go to the gym. I love you, Daddy!
Pamela Kirkland 12:47
Thank you so much, Ten'ers. We hope all the dads out there had a tremendous Father's Day.
Sound Bit 12:53
I love you, Daddy!
Pamela Kirkland 12:58
Wanna know some cool facts about the number 100? There are 100 yards in an American football field. There are 100 sweat glands in one square inch of skin. And The Ten News is looking for 100 donors to help keep our show going!
Sound Bit 13:19
Nice.
Ryan Willard 13:20
If you love The Ten News and want more of it. We need your help so we can keep making new episodes. You see, the show is free to our listeners but it takes money to make all this sweet, sweet podcast magic. So, we're asking for your help. We've set a goal of getting 100 donors to help fund the fourth season of The Ten News. There's a link in our show notes to the fundraising page where your grownups can make a donation. Tell them it's tax-deductible, grown-ups like that. And if they're not able to donate, just spreading the word about The Ten News is a huge help!
Pamela Kirkland 13:50
Thanks for listening and being awesome. We love bringing you the news and hope to keep doing it this fall.
Tessa Flannery 14:04
Welcome to the trivia room.
Ten'ers 14:07
Whoa! We got it... Hey, Tessa. I'm Asher and I'm Dylan. Since Ryan crashed our mom's office today, we thought we'd politely crash yours! And we love trivia.
Tessa Flannery 14:18
Well, hello, Dylan and Asher. I'm so glad you did. You'll notice that the trivia thrown is big enough for the both of you. So hop on up for today's trivia question. You ready?
Ten'ers 14:27
Of course we are! Let's go!
Sound Bit 14:33
What is going on here?
Tessa Flannery 14:42
Recycling electronics is so important. Only about 12.5% of e-waste is recycled here in the US. Many people throw away their old phones when they get a new one but did you know there are precious metals inside every phone? Small amounts of gold and silver are used to build phones. But do you know how many dollars worth of gold and silver is thrown away just from phones in the United States? Is it a) $10 million, b) $30 million, or c) $60 million? Ten'ers, did you guess it? Dylan? Asher? What's your answer?
Ten'ers 15:19
I think it's 30 million. I think it's 60 million. No, what if it's 10 million? I think it's 60 million! Oh yeah, maybe it is 60 million?
Tessa Flannery 15:29
The answer is c) $60 million worth of gold and silver is thrown away by people in the US just from cellphones alone.
Ten'ers 15:42
Holy moly!
Tessa Flannery 15:44
Now, don't try to extract the gold or silver out of your phone or your grownup’s phone. But do remember to recycle your electronics. I'm so glad you stopped by Asher and Dylan. I hope you have a great summer. Happy Summer everyone and thanks to all the Ten'ers, correspondents, guests, and critters who sat on the trivia throne this season. Thank you so much for playing and see you soon!
Ryan Willard 16:15
Umm... Excuse me, Ten News Team. What are you all doing to Kap's minivan?
Pamela Kirkland 16:20
We're upcycling to make it The Ten News-mobile. We turned the color powder from our Holi episode into paint and decorated with it.
Pete Musto 16:28
I took the Lego bricks from Mr. Jalen's episode and made mini tables for each of the seats inside. So, we can eat the British biscuits from our Coronation Day episode.
Tessa Flannery 16:36
And I installed the VR machine from the King Tut episode in the back seat so you can sit back there and not bother any of us.
Ryan Willard 16:43
Okay, this is brilliant. But is Kap going to be okay with this?
Pamela Kirkland 16:47
Actually, it was Pam's idea. I thought it'd be the perfect vehicle for our Ten News Road Trips this summer.
Ryan Willard 16:52
This summer is going to be epic. Oh, I still have my homemade alien repellent. I'll spray it on to protect us.
Pamela Kirkland 16:59
Oh my goodness, it smells so bad. I think we're good on the alien repellent, Ry.
Ryan Willard 17:04
Alright, well, I guess I'm driving.
Pamela Kirkland 17:07
Absolutely, not, maybe maybe someone else?
Tessa Flannery 17:10
I don't think that's a good idea.
Tracy Leeds Kaplan 17:11
How about you and Pam do an outro and I'll warm the car up.
Pamela Kirkland 17:15
I just want to take a second to thank all of our Ten'ers out there and their grown-ups for tuning in this season. It's been amazing to be able to bring you important stories like what's going on in Ukraine, the Royal Coronation, and the occasional poop story. But, it's all a lot of fun. And we love to know that you're learning. Have a great summer!
Ryan Willard 17:37
Well, I just wanted to thank you all for listening to the third season of The Ten News. It's been really fun helping you stay cool, kind, and informed. We'll have some special episodes this summer just for you. So make sure to check back each week. Also, if you want to leave us a voice note and tell us anything, give us a call at 877-TEN-NEWS. Hey, don't we have to give Ten News Snaps to one of our listeners?
Pamela Kirkland 18:00
Ah, you're right. But before we do, here's a quick note for the grownups.
Ryan Willard 18:05
Time for a special edition of Ten News Snaps!
Pamela Kirkland 18:08
Ten’er RYAN called in with an Easter Egg from The Little Mermaid!
Ten'er 18:15
Hi, my name is Ryan. I'm 10 and the Super Mario Easter egg that I saw is in Super Mario Odyssey and is also the Mayor of New York City. And she's also the news reporter for the Super Mario Bros movie.
Pamela Kirkland 18:29
And 11-year-old Eli from Oakland, California, emailed us to say ‘Hi, I really like this podcast and try to listen to it whenever I can before bed.’
Ryan Willard 18:39
Thanks, Eli, and Ryan, and thanks for listening to The Ten News! The Ten News will be on Summer break but you can still catch special episodes every Wednesday! And if you want some bonus content, you can join the Ten’ers Club on our website or on Apple Podcasts.
Pamela Kirkland 18:57
“The Ten News” is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts.
Ryan Willard 19:02
The Ten News creative team is officially on summer vacay and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Logan DeYoung, and Tessa Flannery. Big thanks to Sarah Chandler from Apple, for joining us today! And to our Ten’ers, Dylan, and Asher. Our Production Director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our Executive Producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Have a great summer!
