IT asset disposition provider Apto Solutions has teamed up with Tusaar, a US-based rare earth elements processor, to recover and reuse critical materials from retired technology inside the United States.
The collaboration centers on capturing rare earths from shredded hard drives and sending those materials into Tusaar’s domestic processing stream rather than letting them disappear into conventional recycling and export‑oriented channels.
Rare earth elements are embedded in many technologies, including data storage systems, advanced electronics, defense hardware and clean energy equipment. Although the US generates large volumes of electronic scrap containing these materials, most mining, refining and processing still takes place overseas, especially in Asia. Recovery from end‑of‑life electronics has lagged, hampered by technical challenges and limited domestic processing capacity.
Apto says the new program is designed to tackle some of those hurdles by targeting rare earths specifically in hard drive components after secure destruction. The company points to its existing shredding operations—now including a mobile shredding truck—as a way to process storage devices across its US footprint before moving the resulting material to Tusaar for separation and refinement.
“With all of the focus around rare earth element recovery, we evaluated different options and found that Tusaar’s recovery technology was not only well established, but that they supply the materials directly back to the US Department of Defense,” says Jeff Jones, CEO of Apto Solutions. “This is a matter of national security, and we want to do our part.”
Tusaar, headquartered in Colorado, develops processing technologies aimed at recovering rare earths while managing the radioactive byproducts often associated with separating those elements. The company says its processes can pull rare earth materials out of streams where they would otherwise remain mixed, producing recovered oxides suitable for use in manufacturing.
The partners have not disclosed expected throughput, recovery rates or specific timelines for increasing scale. Rare earth recovery from electronics remains an emerging space, with many projects still at pilot or early commercial stages.
Even so, the announcement lands at a time of heightened policy and industry focus on domestic sourcing of critical materials. Trade tensions and recent supply chain disruptions have sharpened interest in US-based recovery pathways for metals and strategic materials found in e‑scrap and other waste streams.
Within the ITAD world, the move is more evidence of a broader shift toward seeking value beyond traditional resale and bulk metals recovery. Most ITAD businesses still revolve around data security, reuse and compliance‑driven recycling, but some providers are now experimenting with more targeted recovery of high‑value components and specialty materials.
The Apto-Tusaar collaboration is likely one step in a longer‑term strategy rather than a one‑off project. If successful, its performance and economics could become a replicable model for other operators.
The effort also highlights a changing relationship between ITAD firms and downstream processors. Instead of sending everything to traditional smelters, some recyclers are seeking out partners that specialize in particular streams, whether rare earths, batteries or high‑purity metals.
Apto Solutions has worked in the ITAD space for more than 20 years, offering data destruction, reuse and recycling services to large customers. Tusaar’s core work has focused on rare earth recovery in mining contexts, and this partnership represents an extension of its technology into post‑consumer and post‑enterprise electronics.
Whether initiatives like this can move the needle on rare earth supply remains to be seen. For now, the Apto–Tusaar partnership joins a growing group of projects trying to extract more value from electronic scrap while aligning with domestic supply chain and sustainability goals.
