The Potential
Our landfills are packed with old hard drives, phones, and speakers containing Neodymium. “Urban Mining” could theoretically supply a significant portion of future demand without digging new holes.
The Hurdle
Recycling is chemically difficult.
- Hard Disk Drives: The magnet is glued in and coated in nickel. Shredding the drive mixes the rare earth with aluminum and steel, making separation expensive.
- New Tech: Robots that disassemble drives (like Apple’s Daisy) and Hydrogen decrepitation (turning magnets to powder) are emerging solutions to make recycling viable.