Apple was forced to pay a $40,000 fine for mishandling potentially hazardous materials at their data center in Maiden, North Carolina. North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality cited Apple with a number of violations late last year. These violations included failure to conduct the proper determination of spent fuel cell filter waste material, file a report with the hazardous waste authorities, create a manifest for transporting hazardous waste and turning that waste over to EPA identified transporters or disposal facilities.
In addition, it was determined that Apple failed to pay thousands of dollars in annual fees that are charged to any company that produces large amounts of hazardous waste. Apple relies on fuel cell technology that creates a byproduct with a high concentration of benzene. According to inspectors, Apple produced large quantities of the hazardous waste between 2014-2016.  The company was able to pay the fine without admitting any wrongdoing.

Apple paid fine for hazardous material handling at North Carolina data center