Critical minerals probably aren’t high on the list of things you think about every day.
Cybersecurity, budgets, hardware availability and keeping systems running tend to come first. But behind all of that technology is a global supply chain that has become increasingly concentrated, and that’s something worth paying attention to.
A recent discussion at the ITAD Summit focused on growing concerns around critical mineral supplies. Many of the materials used in electronics, batteries, servers and data center equipment are mined or processed in a relatively small number of countries.
That might sound pretty far removed from an IT department in South Dakota, North Dakota, or Iowa. It isn’t.
Supply Chain Risk Eventually Becomes Business Risk
We’ve already seen how quickly a disruption somewhere else in the world can affect equipment availability here.
Critical minerals add another potential pressure point. When access to key materials becomes limited or concentrated among a small number of suppliers, the effects can eventually show up in ways businesses actually feel:
- Longer equipment lead times when manufacturers can’t get the materials or components they need.
- Higher hardware costs as competition for limited supplies increases.
- Fewer sourcing options when certain materials, components or suppliers become unavailable.
- More uncertainty around refresh cycles when the equipment you planned to buy isn’t available when you expected it.
- Greater dependence on global events that businesses here have very little ability to control.
None of this means there’s an immediate shortage of laptops or servers coming. But it does mean the physical supply chain behind IT deserves a place in the business continuity conversation.
We Already Have a Lot of These Materials
The answer isn’t only finding and mining more critical minerals. There is already a significant amount of valuable material sitting inside the electronics businesses use every day.
When computers, servers, hard drives, batteries and other equipment are retired, some can be reused. Some components can continue to have value. And when the equipment truly reaches the end of its useful life, materials within it can potentially be recovered and returned to manufacturing.
That doesn’t solve the critical mineral problem. But when opening a new mine or building domestic processing capacity can take years, it makes sense to get more value out of resources that are already here.
Business Continuity Isn’t Just About Data
Most IT business continuity plans understandably focus on cybersecurity, backups, disaster recovery and system availability. But every one of those systems depends on physical equipment.
If replacement hardware becomes harder to get, significantly more expensive or subject to unpredictable lead times, that can become a continuity problem pretty quickly.
It’s one more reason organizations may want to think about technology lifecycle planning beyond the next purchase: how long equipment can reasonably stay in service, whether certain assets can be redeployed internally, what equipment has resale or reuse potential, and what ultimately happens to the materials when there is no useful life left.
Those decisions may seem small compared with global mineral policy, but multiply them across thousands of organizations and millions of devices and they start to matter.
A Different Way to Look at Retired IT
For a long time, the end of an IT refresh was pretty simple: new equipment comes in and old equipment goes out. That mindset is changing.
Retired technology still represents hardware, components and materials that have value. At the same time, businesses have legitimate concerns about data security, chain of custody and knowing where that equipment ultimately ends up. Those things don’t have to be competing priorities.
As critical mineral supply becomes a bigger economic and national conversation, we’ll hear a lot more about the role existing electronics can play. For IT leaders, it’s worth following, not because your old laptops are going to fix a global supply chain problem, but because the way we manage technology throughout its entire lifecycle is becoming more important.
At SEAM, we spend a lot of time thinking about what happens after IT equipment leaves a customer’s facility. If you’re planning a refresh or just want to better understand where your retired technology goes, we’re always happy to be a resource.
Clint Parsons is the Director of Strategy and Information at SEAM, specializing in building partnerships with businesses of all sizes. He ensures clients effectively navigate secure data destruction, responsible recycling, and maximize the resale value of their IT equipment while staying compliant with evolving regulations.