recycling

A flurry of clean energy announcements in the European Union this year bodes well for the expansion of renewables but there will be a race against time to get key legislation adopted before next summer’s European elections.

Dutch importers that sell solar panels to clients in the Netherlands will have to pay a recycling charge of €40 ($42.50) per ton from July 1. They currently pay just €6.50 per ton.

Australian grid operator Transgrid has partnered with German machinery manufacturer Zeck for the use of its innovative steel separation tech. Zeck’s machine can process electricity transmission lines into a recycle-ready state onsite. Previously, Transgrid sent old transmission lines offshore for this process at a much higher cost.

Soren and Envie 2E Aquitaine have inaugurated a new solar module recycling facility in Saint-Loubès, France.

A recent report by the International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVSP) reviews the current regulatory and industrial landscape for end-of-life PV management in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, and the United States.

German company Flaxres has developed an industrial process to recycle PV modules, and has begun operating a pilot facility at its new site where 10 tons of solar modules can be recycled daily. Flaxres plans to make equipment based on this facility available to international customers.

UP Initiative sponsor, DuPont Teijin Films is investigating closed loop recycling processes, specifically looking at how its backsheets can be recovered and used as a raw material for new production. Since 2020, it has been working on industrial trials with customers to offer rPET backsheets across its entire product range, and proof of principal trials to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of a true closed loop recycling process. pv magazine caught up with Steven Davies, EMEA market manager to discover what progress has been made in the last year.

Renewable hardware that lasts longer and uses fewer materials could bolster recycling efforts and help to build an effective circular economy for solar and battery technologies, says the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Scientists in China have developed a new recycling process for PV modules that can recover intact silicon cells from end-of-life products, and process them back into wafers. As part of the recycling process, the wafers are purified and surface-treated, making them suitable for integration into new, high-efficiency cells and modules.

Reclaim PV has added another partner to its national solar panel recycling and recovery program with South Australian-based manufacturer Tindo Solar committing to a program that will see close to 100% of the solar PV panels that it handles recycled and re-used in the industry.