Microsoft reports on its data center waste reduction project, aiming to tackle the current issue of having to destroy damaged hard drives before disposing of them, making it difficult to reuse rare minerals like neodymium wasted unnecessarily.
Microsoft’s approach involves transitioning from destroying entire hard drives to dismantling them piece by piece using robots. The data disks are then shredded only to prevent data leakage, while the other components can still be reused.
Currently, Microsoft sets a goal to release hard drives without entirely shredding them by 90% by 2025. The salvaged components can be reused or recycled at a higher rate than before when they were completely shredded.
Source: Microsoft Garage
TLDR: Microsoft innovatively tackles data center waste by dismantling hard drives piece by piece using robots, aiming to reduce shredding by 90% by 2025 for better reuse and recycling rates.
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