NSW to lead work on solar panel recycling scheme

NSW will lead work towards a national scheme to reuse and recycle solar panels after energy ministers agreed to progress the plan at a meeting this week.

The proposed product stewardship scheme would mandate recycling to prevent panels ending up in landfill, with more than 95 per cent of a panel’s materials able to be recovered.

Annual solar panel waste in Australia is projected to almost double in five years, rising from 59,000 tonnes in 2025 to more than 91,000 tonnes by 2030.

Energy and environment minister Penny Sharpe said NSW was building on its reform work on batteries.

“We are proud to be leading the charge to create a unified approach to solar panel waste management and recycling,” Sharpe said.

“This work builds on the momentum of our nation-leading reform on batteries, and the new legislation already in place in NSW to enable a mandatory product stewardship scheme – ensuring suppliers take responsibility for the safe design, recycling and disposal of their products.”

Smart Energy Council chief executive John Grimes said fewer than 5 per cent of solar panels are recycled, despite four million coming off roofs each year.

“The time for talk has passed, an immediate first step is a national solar stewardship pilot to keep the industry alivet,” Grimes said.

Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union NSW/ACT secretary Brad Pidgeon said remanufacturing and recycling panels locally would create jobs in the renewable energy supply chain.