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The Australian federal government will invest AUD 24.7 million ($16.9 million) over three years in a national pilot program to recycle end-of-life solar panels. This information comes from pv magazine Australia. The pilot aims to establish up to 100 collection sites across the country to address the growing waste issue as the nation’s solar fleet matures.
More than 4.2 million rooftop solar systems have been installed in Australia, with an estimated 4 million panels being decommissioned annually. Government analysis shows only 17% of these panels are currently being recycled. “Most panels are either stockpiled, dumped in landfill or exported for reuse,” Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said. “These materials can be repurposed to support the clean energy transition and help reduce what we send to landfill.”
The program will support the development of a circular economy by recovering materials like copper, silver, silicon, and aluminium from the panels. The government commitment follows a Productivity Commission report into Australia’s circular economy, which recommended the government “urgently establish” a national recycling scheme for solar panels. The report stated, “Though some private recycling services exist in Australia … only 17% of solar panel components are recycled with the remaining 83% of materials treated as waste.”
The Productivity Commission identified cost as a key barrier, estimating that recycling panels is about six times the cost of sending them to landfill. Darren Johannesen, executive general manager of sustainability at the Smart Energy Council, said the program would transform a waste challenge into an economic opportunity. “Solar panels are not a waste problem, rather a critical resource,” he said. “Implementing a national stewardship scheme, which we hope and expect will follow the pilot, will trigger an urban-mining boom, and a new wave of smart energy investment in jobs and growth.”
The Australian government estimates that creating a national product stewardship scheme for small-scale solar PV systems could unlock up to $7.3 billion in economic benefits through reduced waste and material reuse.
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