iSustainability: Apple's Race to Carbon Neutrality

Introduction:

Apple embarked on a journey towards achieving Carbon neutrality in 2030, with a plan. I, on the other hand, decided to explore their journey with Excel and Tableau as my trusted companions.

The goal of the project is to visualize their progress towards becoming carbon neutral in 2030. I was able to find interesting insights.

About the dataset:

The dataset contains 3 tables, in CSV format. The "Greenhouse Gas Emissions" table contains the sources of Apple's greenhouse gas emissions from 2015 to 2022 divided by category (corporate & product life cycle), scope (direct scope 1 emissions & indirect scope 2 and 3 emissions), and type (emissions & removals). The "Carbon Footprint by Product" table contains the emissions from the product life cycle of every baseline iPhone model released between 2015-2022. The "Normalizing Factors" table contains Apple's revenue, market cap, and employees during the same period.

Tools Used:

Excel (Data Cleaning)

Tableau (Data Analysis & Visualization)

Steps followed:

The overall exploration was divided into 2 key phases.

Phase 1: Data Cleaning

I cleaned up the data to fix errors and to ensure it was ready for the next step of analysis. There were no major issues with the data.

Phase 2: Data Analysis and Visualization

Key Data Insights:

Apple pledged carbon neutrality by 2030 and is actively working towards this goal, using their 2015 emissions as the baseline for reduction efforts in 2030.

• Apple achieved a remarkable 47.2% reduction in Carbon emissions by 2022 and is more likely to achieve the target.
• There has been a consistent increase in Total Revenue and Employees since 2015, accounting for 68.7% and 49.1% growth, respectively.
• Market Capitalization has consistently grown by a remarkable 329.3%.
• Apple has already achieved its corporate operations target.
• There is a steady decline in the Product life cycle emissions which is a positive trend.
• The 3 major sources contributing to Carbon emissions are Manufacturing (purchased goods and services), Product use (use of sold products), and Product transportation (upstream and downstream), with Manufacturing topping the chart.
• Scope 3 emissions, the major contributor, have consistently decreased since 2015, which is a positive trend. The above-mentioned sources belong to Scope 3 emissions.
• The iPhone X variant contributes to the higher carbon footprint.
• A mobile device with 64 GB storage contributes to the carbon footprint increase.

Actionable Insights:

• Continuing efforts and strategies to reduce emissions throughout the product life cycle will yield substantial results.
• Reducing Scope 3 emissions sources is crucial.
• Continuously iterate the development of products with a lower carbon footprint in the future.
• Maintain the current business model as it seems successful.
• Incorporate green manufacturing practices and reiterate them when collaborating with others.

Data Visualization:

This is an interactive dashboard with key insights.

FYI, there are interactions in 2 instances,

1. Emissions trend by category – choose from “Corporate Emissions” and “Product Life Cycle Emissions”.
   

2. Emissions trend by Scope – choose from Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3.
   

Conclusion:

This project was a valuable learning experience in data cleaning, including identifying and handling null values. It also allowed me to explore the capabilities of Tableau and gain insights into Apple's Carbon initiatives, emphasizing the importance of a greener future.