Canadian metals recycler Cyclic Materials has gained significant backing from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund to advance its technology for recovering rare earth elements from discarded hard drives. This investment will aid Cyclic in further developing its CC360™ technology, which has been in progress for the past two years. The goal is to encourage IT asset disposal (ITAD) companies to focus on extracting rare earths along with valuable metals like gold and silver, which are often already recovered during the shredding of end-of-life hard drives.
The CC360™ technology allows ITAD companies to selectively recover rare earths from hard drives while preserving the remainder of the drive for conventional recycling processes. Magnets removed from the drives can be processed to extract rare earth materials using Cyclic's technology.
This initiative supports Microsoft's commitment to achieving zero waste across its direct operations, products, and packaging by 2030, according to Brandon Middaugh, Senior Director of the Climate Innovation Fund.
Sims Lifecycle Services (SLS), a division of ASX-listed Sims, has been testing the CC360™ technology and is impressed by its potential. Sean Magann, Chief Commercial Officer at SLS, stated that the technology not only helps recover critical rare earths but also improves data security and reduces issues with magnets clogging shredders. SLS plans to implement the technology throughout its operations.
The rise in electronic waste (e-waste) presents a significant opportunity for recycling, yet current recycling rates are inadequate. The UN reports that global e-waste generation is increasing by 2.6 million tonnes per year and could reach 82 million tonnes by 2030. Despite the vast quantities of e-waste, only 46 countries have collection rate targets, and just 36 have recycling rate targets. In 2022, e-waste contained 31 billion kg of metals, with 19 billion kg recovered, but often overlooking critical raw materials like rare earths.
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