National
ETV Bharat / bharat
By ETV Bharat English Team
Published : March 17, 2026 at 5:19 PM IST
By Santu Das
New Delhi: Continuing its endeavour for environment preservation, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has issued the maiden guidelines on solar e-waste in India.
Solar waste pertains to solar photo-voltaic modules, panels, or cells that have reached the end of their life cycle and are discarded, wastes produced during manufacturing, refurbishment, and repair processes, as well as solar panels that have been damaged during transportation, handling, storage, and installation.
Solar panels are composed of both recyclable and non-recyclable materials, which include glass, aluminum frame, silicon wafers, metals such as copper, silver, lead, cadmium, tellurium, gallium, arsenic, tin, and plastics.
The CPCB has issued Guidelines for Storage and Handling of waste solar photo-voltaic modules, panels or cells under E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022. The guidelines are designed to offer technical advice on the transportation, handling, and storage of waste solar photo-voltaic panels, modules, or cells, along with their components, consumables, parts, and spares, in a manner that is environmentally responsible and safeguards both health and the environment.
The regulations will apply to producers, manufacturers, and recyclers of waste solar photo-voltaic panels, modules, or cells.
Prior to the issuance of the guidelines, there was no specific regulation for solar waste and these regulations would ensure proper handling of the solar e-waste.
Status of India’s Solar Energy
India’s transition to solar energy is driving its rise as a worldwide leader in clean energy. India’s solar power capacity witnessed drastic increase to 129 GW in 2025 from 3 GW in 2014, as per government data.
The increase in solar installations during the last 10 years has been crucial in doubling the total installed electricity capacity of India. However, with the rapid increase in installation, the solar waste is likely to rise significantly in the coming years. Reportedly, the solar waste in India is expected to hover around 60 lakh tonnes by 2030. Thus, the recent guidelines of the CPCB would ensure smooth disposal of solar waste.
The growth of solar energy promotes sustainability. However, the improper handling of end-of-life solar waste can present environmental and health hazards.
What Guidelines Say?
According to CPCB guidelines, a copy of which was accessed by ETV Bharat, the management of waste solar photo-voltaic modules or panels or cells are covered under the Chapter V of the E-Waste (Management), Rules, 2022, where the manufacturers, producers and the recyclers of solar photo-voltaic modules or panels or cells have been assigned responsibilities to ensure the compliance with the said rules through registration, storing the waste solar photo-voltaic modules or panels or cells up to the year 2034-35, filing annual returns on the portal, and ensuring compliances with the guidelines and standard operating procedure (SOP) laid down by it.
Storage of solar waste shall be done in a manner which does not lead to breakage of the waste collected and is safe to workers handling such products, as per the guidelines. In addition, storage of solar waste shall be carried out in such a way that its end use such as re-use after refurbishing or recycling/recovery is unaffected and there should not be any damage to health, environment and to the product itself, besides covered shed/spaces shall be used for its storage.
Also, considering the leaching potential of metals such as antimony, cadmium, arsenic, lead, selenium, among others, the floor used for storage of solar waste shall be non-leachable, impervious to prevent contamination to the ground water and soil.
Experts’ View
Environmentalists have opined that the maiden guidelines issued on solar e-waste by the CPCB is a positive step towards environment conservation.
Environmentalist B S Vohra on Tuesday told ETV Bharat, “The CPCB guidelines on solar e-waste represent a crucial and timely initiative for India. By outlining a structured framework for the collection, transportation, storage, and safe management of solar waste, the guidelines play an important role in preventing toxic metal leakage and environmentally unsafe disposal practices.”
He said additional measures such as specific recycling objectives, established infrastructure for solar-panel recycling, enhanced enforcement, incorporation of the informal sector, and research and development for material recovery are required.
Overall, it is a foundational policy step but requires ecosystem-wide implementation and awareness, Vohra said.
Echoing similar sentiments , environmentalist Deepak Ramesh Gaur said, ” I welcome the guidelines issued by the CPCB on solar waste. The government has been taking several initiatives for environmental conservation. This is a positive step towards that direction”.
Also Read
For All Latest Updates
TAGGED:
Copyright © 2026 Ushodaya Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., All Rights Reserved.

source