What you need to know
- Microsoft uses robotics and AI to disassemble defective hard disks and recycle valuable components for a 90% reuse and recycle rate by 2025.
- This is part of the company's plan to achieve carbon negativity by 2050.
- In 2022, Microsoft shredded two million hard drives, which is harmful to the environment.
According to a report by Blocks & Files, Microsoft leverages robots by Dobot Robotics to disassemble defective hard disk drives and recycle valuable components, including aluminum platters, neodymium magnets, and a stainless steel chassis (via Tom's Hardware). This is part of Microsoft's broader plans to attain its sustainability and environmental goals.
As has been the trend, defective hard disks are often shredded leading to a big heap of waste that is harmful to the environment, pushing back set sustainability goals. A team led by Ranganathan Srikanth demonstrated a concept that leverages robotics to disassemble important parts of hard disks for recycling, killing two birds with one stone — promoting sustainability and maintaining the environment.
For context, the robots leverage computer vision to differentiate hard disks and to identify the location of the screws for the disassembling process. Most of the components in the hard disks are recycled, including magnets and printed circuit boards, leaving the data-carrying platters for disposal.
As you may know, Microsoft leverages different types of hard drives in its data centers. Based on this premise, it might prove difficult for the robots to identify the placement of screws on the different types of models. As such, the company leverages AI capabilities to help the robots identify the location of the screws for disassembly.
As highlighted by our sister site, Tom's Hardware, between 20 and 70 million hard drives reach the end of their lifecycle. In 2022, Microsoft shredded two million hard drives. It's unclear whether this figure represents shredded or dismantled hard drives, or a combination of both.
According to Ranganathan Srikanth:
"If it was just one hard disk, it wouldn’t be an opportunity. However, in 2022 alone, there were two million hard disks shredded and that would fill the cargo of up to nine 747s."
Microsoft aims to use the new "NoShred approach" to reach a 90% reuse and recycle rate of hard drives by 2025. In 2020, Microsoft announced its ambitious plan to combat its impact on climate change, attempting to go carbon-negative by 2030 with further plans to eliminate its historical carbon footprint from the atmosphere by 2050.
RELATED: Microsoft edges closer to achieving carbon negativity after signing a MASSIVE deal with Heirloom
Elsewhere, Microsoft intends to cut support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025 and has been using aggressive ad campaigns to try and get users to upgrade to Windows 11. However, it is raising concern, predominantly because of Microsoft's stringent hardware requirements for Windows 11.
Consequently, a public interest research group filed a petition requesting Microsoft to reconsider cutting support for Windows 10 detailed that over 40% of users still run Windows 10. It further explained the decision to cut the OS's support would negatively impact Microsoft's sustainability goal, as it would lead to the "single biggest jump in junked computers ever."
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