I am not sure if you have ever heard about GEEP Canada. The company is one of the recycling partners of Apple and is responsible to recycle Apple products including iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and others. Now Apple is suing the Canadian firm for unethical business practices.
Apple alleges that GEEP Canada has resold over 100,000 iPhones, iPads, and Apple watches instead of dismantling them. Apple sent over 500,000 iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches between January 2015 and December 2017. Out of these, at least 103,845 products left the GEEP’s premises without being destroyed.
During the audit, Apple found that some of its devices were being stored away from security cameras’ vision. Now the company has filed a lawsuit seeking full recovery of profits made from selling these used devices. Apple seeks at least $31 million CAD from GEEP.
GEEP itself confirmed this but denies all wrongdoing. The company has also filed a third-party suit claiming three employees stole the products without the company’s knowledge
Apple isn’t happy with the firm for selling these devices. The reason is that these products cannot meet Apple’s quality or safety standards. Apple sends products for recycling only when the product isn’t fine to sell to consumers. If these products come to market, it will affect Apple’s reputation
Recycling firms recover valuable material from used devices and then destroy the waste. GEEP offers multiple e-waste management services for several companies including Apple. Apple filed the complaint in January 2020. It discovered these thefts at the end of 2017 or the start of 2018 and stopped working after this.
