National Solar Panel Recycling Scheme Launched In Australia

On Friday afternoon, the Albanese Government announced millions of dollars to deliver and support a long-awaited National Solar Panel Recycling Pilot.

How Will The National Solar Panel Recycling Pilot Operate?

The Albanese Government will invest $24.7 million over three years to divert end-of-life solar panels from landfill to facilities that will recover valuable materials such as copper, silver and aluminium. This initiative will include establishing up to 100 pilot collection sites nationwide.

An Administrator for the Pilot will be appointed soon; with collection services starting as soon as practicable thereafter.

The announcement was very light on specifics about how, what, when and where; but the Smart Energy Council (SEC) seems to have more information.

The SEC says the pilot will directly inform the development of a permanent scheme. It will test various transport options and consult with recyclers on identifying and solving practical challenges, and gather important national data on costs of recycling across different regions.

The Smart Energy Council says that the program is a result of dozens of organisations calling for a national and mandatory solar panel stewardship scheme last year, and is an essential next step to building on successful Queensland pilots.

“By standing together, we have ensured that the federal government recognizes the urgent need for a sustainable, circular solution for end-of-life solar PV panels.”

Councils Applaud Pilot

Solar PV waste has increasingly become a headache for Australian councils in terms of taking up space in landfills; where permitted. So, it’s no surprise the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) welcomed the announcement.

“Councils play a critical frontline role in waste and resource recovery, managing a large number of waste facilities across the country,” said ALGA President, Matt Burnett. “Any national approach to decreasing the quantities of waste going to landfill or stockpiled helps manage the current unsustainable pressures on councils.”

Productivity Commission Pushes PV Recycling Opportunity

Coinciding with the announcement, a Productivity Commission (PC) report was also released Friday, looking at opportunities in Australia’s circular economy to improve materials productivity and efficiency while also benefiting the economy and the environment.

One of the focus issues in the report is waste from electronic products such as solar PV systems and EV batteries creating challenges for resource recovery and environmental management.

“Australia’s solar boom is projected to generate an 18-fold increase in PV waste from 2019 to 2030 as existing stock comes to the end of its useful life,” states the Commission. “Because of their bulky nature and the high costs associated with recycling (including specialised handling and infrastructure) or proper disposal, solar PV system and EV battery waste is often stockpiled or illegally dumped or exported to other countries.”

But it’s not just panels reaching the end of their expected service life that are of concern. Poor quality panels are failing early, and many with years of energy generation left in them are being ditched during system upgrades.

The Productivity Commission’s related recommendation:

“Recommendation 5.2
Establish a national product stewardship scheme for small-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and investigate a national product stewardship scheme for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.”

According to a joint ministerial press release, only 17 per cent of solar panels are being recycled currently. Increasing this could create up to $7.3 billion in benefits as a result of reduced waste and reuse of materials.

“By turning old solar panels into valuable resources, this scheme will create more local jobs, and power a future made in Australia, enticing greater investment in our booming solar industry,” said Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen.

Finally, Progress On PV Panel Recycling

In 2021, the solar industry was put on notice by the then-Morrison Government that an industry-led nationwide stewardship scheme design must be finalised by June 2022. The Clean Energy Council (CEC) challenged the government, stating it had worked to develop a comprehensive, nationwide plan over the previous year, but that the Federal Government had “walked away” from the collaboration.

In the years since, there have been various proposals and opinions from government departments on a national scheme; but no real action on their part — until now.

On a related note, we recently reported University of Newcastle researchers have developed a more efficient method for the recovery of high-grade silver from end-of-life solar panels.