The engines of modern innovation are broad and include (but are certainly not limited to) smartphones, servers, electric vehicles and AI chips. What they all have in common is that they rely on a relentless flow of rare earths and critical minerals. Yet despite their immense value, and the growing geopolitical risks around securing them, these materials are still largely treated as disposable.
A single tonne of discarded smartphones contains up to 300 times more gold than a tonne of mined ore. And yet in 2019, only 17.4% of global e-waste was formally recycled. The rest was lost to landfills, incineration, or shipped overseas. Meanwhile, demand for critical minerals is soaring, with the EU forecasting an 18-fold increase in lithium demand and a five-fold increase in cobalt by 2030.
What this adds up to is both a major environmental problem and a strategic vulnerability for technology companies, governments, and economies alike. Europe, for example, imports over 90% of its rare earth elements and depends entirely on external supply for several key inputs. In a world of rising geopolitical tensions and strained supply chains, our current throwaway model is no longer fit for purpose.
At Orivium, we believe there is a smarter path forward: leasing metals instead of owning them.
Think of it as “metals-as-a-service.” Much like leasing a fleet of vehicles or renting cloud servers, this approach treats metals as strategic assets that remain in circulation across multiple lifecycles. Companies would no longer “own” the metals inside their devices. Instead, they would lease them, use them, and then return them for recovery and reuse.
This shift realigns incentives across the supply chain. Leasing makes it profitable to:
Instead of a one-way journey from mine to landfill, we create a circular loop, where metals power one generation of devices before being harvested for the next.
This is not an entirely new idea. In other industries, leasing has already proven its worth: jet engines, construction equipment, and IT infrastructure are all routinely provided “as-a-service.” Applying this model to critical minerals is the logical next step.
For leasing to work, metals must be efficiently and cleanly recovered, not only from manufacturing scrap, but also from the mountains of e-waste, decommissioned data centres, and retired EV batteries already in circulation.
The good news is that this is no longer speculative. Emerging chemical technologies now make it possible to extract critical minerals like copper, cobalt, and gold from complex waste streams at ambient temperatures, without cyanide, high heat, or other toxic inputs. Some methods are up to 100 times faster than conventional techniques, transforming what was once “waste” into a secure, localised resource.
Urban mines—our existing devices and infrastructure—are now a vast and underutilised reservoir. Harnessing them could underpin a resilient industrial strategy, not just a recycling program.
The benefits of leasing metals extend far beyond sustainability.
In short, leasing metals is not just an environmental gesture. It is an industrial strategy in future-proofing tech companies against resource scarcity while strengthening their ESG credentials.
Transitioning to a leasing model will not happen by accident. It requires both policy leadership and industry commitment.
Regulators must go beyond existing waste directives, introducing incentives such as tax benefits, procurement standards, and recovery targets to accelerate closed-loop systems. Stronger enforcement of laws like the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive is also critical.
For manufacturers and technology companies, the shift means moving away from extractive thinking and investing in:
By embedding circular principles into their business models, companies can turn resource recovery into a competitive advantage.
As demand for critical minerals accelerates, and climate goals grow more urgent, the time to rethink our material supply chains is now. Leasing metals offers a clear path to resilience: a system where our phones, servers, and EVs are not the end of the line, but the mines of the future.
Discover more stories, breakthroughs and expert perspectives on resource innovation and sustainability.
