-
Chemical-free recycling supports U.S. supply chains and cuts landfill waste
-
Recovered materials support electric cars, wind power, and advanced electronics manufacturing
-
Sustainable end-of-life plan redefines future for storage in U.S. data centers
A new pilot program from Microsoft and Western Digital has demonstrated a novel method of recycling rare earth elements (REEs) from decommissioned
hard disk drives
.
The program, created in partnership with Critical Materials Recycling (CMR) and PedalPoint Recycling, effectively retrieved almost 90% of rare earth oxides along with approximately 80% of the overall material input from used drives and associated parts.
Using materials sourced from Microsoft’s U.S.-based
data centers
The project handled around 50,000 pounds of shredded hard drives and components, transforming these materials into high-purity elements. These purified substances can now be utilized in various critical areas including electric vehicles, wind power, and sophisticated computing systems.
Old HDDs now have more value
The initiative utilizes an acid-free, eco-friendly recycling method that cuts down greenhouse gas emissions by 95% when contrasted with traditional mining and refining techniques.
This method not only retrieves scarce elements such as neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium, crucial for HDD magnetic systems, but also harvests important metals like copper, aluminum, steel, and gold, reintegrating them into the American supply network. This demonstrates that significant resources can still be harnessed even
external hard drives
can enjoy an environmentally friendly new chapter.
Despite the critical role of rare earths in cloud infrastructure, current domestic recycling efforts in the U.S. recover less than 10% of these materials.
At the same time, more than 85% of worldwide rare earth element production continues to be centered abroad; however, this initiative seeks to alter that trend with a domestically scalable approach designed to decrease landfill waste, boost supply chain resilience, and lessen reliance on external suppliers.
“This represents an enormous accomplishment from everyone participating. The pilot initiative demonstrates that environmentally friendly and financially feasible solutions for handling hard disk drives at their end-of-life stage can indeed be achieved,” stated Chuck Graham, who serves as the corporate vice president overseeing cloud sourcing, supply chain, sustainability, and security at Microsoft.
The Acid-Free Dissolution Recycling (ADR) technique, which originated from the Critical Materials Institute (CMI) hub, played a crucial role in achieving this milestone.
“This project holds importance due to the anticipated global increase in HDD feedstock as artificial intelligence fuels the demand for HDD data storage,” stated Tom Lograsso, who leads CMI.
Via
StorageNewsletter
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