Western Digital, along with Microsoft and a number of electronic equipment processing companies, launched a hard drive processing program in the United States to reduce dependence on providing rare factors from China and reducing carbon traces. This has been reported by the hardware of the information port.
Hard disks are still an important component of the infrastructure of the data centers, where millions of drives wear worn every 3-5 years. Until recently, such devices have been sent to the landfill, exacerbating electronic waste issues. The ban on China for the export of rare materials has promoted the company to find environmentally friendly solutions.
According to the project, hard drive, mainly from Microsoft data centers, undergoing grinding to protect the data completely. Later, devices were treated in important materials recycling (CMR) and pedal recycling. The first extracts of rare soil factors and pedals focus on materials such as gold, copper, palladi, steel and aluminum. It should be noted that the processed technologies used to minimize environmental impact.
According to Western Digital, the project has allowed to return more than 21 tons of raw materials for economic revenue. The effectiveness of extracting materials valid 80%and for rare soil factors – more than 90%. This significantly reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases, especially compared to the exploitation and transportation of ores.
The ability to handle the hard drive is huge. In 2022, there were about 23,000 data centers with millions of servers around the world, life was quickly approaching. By 2030, the volume of electronic waste will reach 75 million tons, which only emphasizes the importance of those initiatives.