- 400 million PCs will need to be replaced to support Windows 11
- $2.42 billion in gold could be recovered from discarded PCs
- PC shipments increase due to Windows 10 EOS
New research has analyzed the possible environmental impacts of the upcoming end of life of Windows 10, in which millions of devices will need to be updated.
With 400 million PCs worldwide set to retire due to lack of hardware support for Windows 11 (and 14.4 million PCs in the UK alone), we could face huge challenges in recovering 12.8 million kg of recoverable metals, including gold, copper, silver, platinum, palladium and indium.
As a result, an estimated £1.809 billion ($2.42 billion) could be recovered from major recycled metals alone, figures from Business Waste’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) researchers say.
Windows 10 end-of-life costs
Business Waste claims a staggering £1.68 billion worth of gold could be recovered from recalled devices, as well as £98.8 million worth of copper and £32.9 million worth of silver.
However, while there are some schemes to support responsible recycling (such as the UK’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive), it is not clear how many devices are actually recycled.
Still, Business Waste pointed out the need to update to shift blame away from consumers and businesses. As older devices lose support, they will become more vulnerable to viruses and software failures. Unsupported software will also become a bigger problem as vendors adapt to new operating system versions.
Although some reluctance to upgrade remains, IDC reported a 9.4% year-over-year increase in PC shipments during the third quarter of 2025 in preparation for Microsoft’s operating system changes.
Maciek Gornicki, senior research director, also signaled the end of a device upgrade cycle from pre-pandemic purchases, which underpinned a proportion of sales.
More broadly, with the EEA getting an extra year’s worth of extended security updates (ESUs), device updates and PC shipments could continue to grow in the coming months.
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