Key takeaways
- Know-how giants are “mining” uncommon earth components and valuable metals from outdated laptop {hardware} and recovered electronics to satisfy waste discount targets.
- Apple and Google are additionally recovering valuable metals and uncommon earth components.
- The corporate recycled or reused virtually 91 p.c of its decommissioned servers and different information heart {hardware} in 2024.
Microsoft is increasing digital waste assortment from its information facilities with a brand new initiative to recuperate uncommon earth components and valuable metals from exhausting drives with out utilizing acids.
This system introduced April 17 is a collaboration between drive maker Western Digital together with Crucial Supplies Recycling and PedalPoint Recycling. It goals to scale U.S. manufacturing of uncommon earth components at a time when the world’s largest provider, China, has threatened to chop off exports amid an escalating world commerce conflict.
Up to now, the pilot has processed 50,000 kilos of out of date drives collected at Microsoft information facilities, extracting uncommon earth components together with neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium — essential parts for magnets utilized in electrical automobiles and wind generators. The initiative has additionally recovered gold, copper, aluminum and metal.
A Microsoft government declined to reveal how a lot of those supplies has been recovered, what share of end-of-life exhausting drives was included underneath this system or whether or not the corporate acquired a monetary profit by collaborating.
“That is the best factor to do,” stated Rani Borkar, company vp of Azure {hardware} and methods at Microsoft, pointing to the corporate’s 2030 zero waste purpose.
Rising demand
Microsoft, like its main rivals in cloud computing Google and Amazon, is increasing its information heart footprint at a livid tempo. Arduous drives will account for about 80 p.c of the info storage capability at hyperscale and cloud providers services via 2028, in keeping with forecasts by researcher IDC. This expertise relies upon closely on uncommon earth components and valuable metals, as do many methods enabling the clear power transition.
The supplies already recovered from a number of Microsoft information facilities are being fed again into the U.S. provide chain, which accounts for simply 15 p.c of uncommon earth manufacturing. Different giant expertise firms, together with Apple and Google, are additionally mining uncommon earths and different valuable metals from outdated electronics and laptop {hardware}.
Nobody is doing this at scale. The present U.S. recycling price for uncommon earths is lower than 10 p.c, in keeping with Western Digital.
The undertaking highlighted by Microsoft makes use of a multi-step course of pioneered by Crucial Supplies Recycling:
- Out of date or outdated drives are shredded utilizing conventional processes.
- That materials is sorted and processed by PedalPoint, and the magnets and metal are despatched to Crucial Supplies for sorting.
- Uncommon earth oxides are extracted utilizing a chemical recycling course of that doesn’t include acids.
“This undertaking isn’t only a milestone, it’s a blueprint for large-scale, home recycling of important metals and supplies that can drive sustainable progress for years to return,” stated Jackie Jung, vp of worldwide operations technique and company sustainability at Western Digital.
Demand for uncommon earth metals is rising at 9 p.c yearly, and the market is projected to succeed in $16.3 billion by 2030.
Microsoft’s zero-waste agenda
The uncommon earths restoration effort is only one part of Microsoft’s technique to hold laptop {hardware} out of landfills. It recycled or reused near 91 p.c of the pc servers and different applied sciences that run its Azure cloud providers in 2024, assembly its 2025 goal and maintaining 3.2 million parts in circulation all through its information facilities.
A lot of that work is being delivered by Round Facilities, regional websites that deal with expertise that’s change into out of date for Microsoft’s information heart purposes. The common lifespan of laptop servers is between 4 and 6 years, relying on the applying.
By means of this program, high-value parts resembling reminiscence or central processing models are eliminated and redeployed. Some methods are donated to native organizations resembling faculties or neighborhood teams.
Up to now, Microsoft manages six Round Facilities within the U.S., Eire, the Netherlands and Singapore. It’s planning three extra: in Australia, the U.S. and Wales.
[Gain insights to move beyond incremental action and accelerate the shift to a circular economy at Circularity, April 29-May 1, Denver, CO.]