Destroyed 100,000 iPhones were resold

Apple is suing a company hired to assist in recycling for allegedly reselling at least 100,000 iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches intended to be disassembled.

Apple has filed a lawsuit against GEEP Canada. a former recycling partner who was hired to disassemble said products.

According to The Logic, Apple’s lawsuit alleges GEEP Canada, now owned by Quantum Lifecycle Partners, simply failed to comply with Apple’s requirements.

“At least 11,766 pounds of Apple devices left GEEP territory without being destroyed – a fact that GEEP itself has confirmed,” the lawsuit says.

GEEP claims that The 103,845 devices mentioned in the lawsuit were actually stolen and resold by “scammers” who started selling products without the knowledge of their employers.

How did Apple know about this? Where does the company get the exact numbers? It found that 18% of the 500,000 devices sent to GEEP are still active on cellular networks.

Given that Apple does not count devices that it cannot identify over networks, it is likely that many more smartphones, tablets and watches have actually leaked to the black market to fill the pockets of alleged criminals.

Apple also disputes GEEP’s claim that the thefts were perpetrated by ordinary team members. In fact, Apple says it has reason to believe that the entire process was managed by three senior executives at the company.

Apple is seeking C $ 31 million in a lawsuit, while GEEP denies wrongdoing. The company also said it had filed lawsuits against employees accused of theft that took place between 2015 and 2017.

Given that Apple has worked very hard to improve sustainability in recent years, especially when it comes to recycling the rare earths found in its products, it’s no wonder the company is outraged and taking such drastic action.

It looks like it does. if Apple wanted to resell these smartphones and watches, it would do so through the Refurbished Device Sales program. The fact is that Apple claims that the specified devices no longer meet its high standards.

In a statement to The Verge, the company says: “Products sent for recycling are no longer suitable for sale to consumers, and if they will remanufactured with counterfeit parts, they can cause serious safety problems, including defective electronics or batteries. ”