Recently, Western Digital announced the launch of a cross-industry pilot program in the United States in collaboration with Microsoft, Critical Materials Recycling, and PedalPoint Recycling—focused on rare earth recycling.
The program aims to recycle approximately 50,000 pounds of discarded hard disk drives (HDDs), mounting brackets, and other materials into critical high-value raw materials, while significantly reducing environmental impact.
HDDs use a variety of rare earth elements in their innovative design, such as neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium, which help to accurately read and write data.
Currently, Western Digital has successfully and efficiently recovered rare earth elements such as neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), and dysprosium (Dy) from discarded HDDs, while also recycling metals such as gold, copper, aluminum, and steel. This milestone is expected to help establish a domestic rare earth recycling industry chain in the United States.
According to information released by Western Digital, the program has successfully processed over 50,000 pounds of discarded HDDs and related materials. Through acid-free dissolution recycling technology and a new sorting system, the program has achieved approximately a 90% recovery rate for rare earths and an 80% reuse rate for the total mass of materials.
Source: WD and Microsoft
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