March 18, 2025 – Apple Drops $23 Million Lawsuit Against Geep Canada After Five-Year Legal Battle, Leaving Questions Unanswered
In a surprising turn of events, tech media outlet AppleInsider reported yesterday (March 17) that Apple has dropped its $23 million lawsuit against Canadian recycling company Geep Canada, following a lengthy five-year legal battle. However, the tech giant failed to provide any insight into the final resolution regarding the theft of 100,000 iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch devices.
Apple had entrusted Geep Canada with the recycling of its devices since 2014. But an audit conducted in 2017 revealed that the company had failed to destroy nearly 100,000 devices as per their agreement.
Apple’s audit team discovered that the storage area for Apple Watches in Geep’s warehouse lacked surveillance cameras. By tracing the serial numbers of the devices and comparing them to global activation records, Apple confirmed that at least 99,975 devices had been illegally activated (non-Wi-Fi devices were not detected).
As reported in January 2020, Apple officially sued Geep, accusing it of reselling the devices. Geep admitted to the charges but blamed “rogue employees” and countersued Apple.
The case never reached the trial stage, with no new developments for four years. According to Canadian law, the case would have been automatically dismissed due to “inactivity” in January 2025. However, Apple surprisingly filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the last day before the deadline in December 2024, leaving the motive behind this decision unclear.
Following the exposure of the lawsuit, Geep ceased operations in October 2019 and merged with newly established recycling alliance Quantum Lifecycle Partners.
Although Apple did not receive any compensation, it used the lawsuit to bolster its environmental image. The company regularly promotes its recycling initiatives, such as the “Daisy” dismantling robot, which recycled 2 million devices in 2023. Additionally, CEO Tim Cook emphasizes that AI has become crucial in recycling, optimizing material identification and resource reuse efficiency.
