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The New South Wales government has opened consultation on a proposal that would create Australia’s first mandatory solar panel recycling scheme, according to pv magazine. The proposed product stewardship scheme is intended to keep valuable solar panel materials in circulation through recovery, reuse and recycling instead of disposal.
The measure is designed to divert thousands of tonnes of solar panel waste away from landfill. Under the proposal, solar manufacturers and importers that supply regulated photovoltaic panels into New South Wales would be required to help fund collection, recycling and resource recovery activities across the state.
Government data cited in the consultation shows New South Wales has more than 1.18 million rooftop solar systems. As those systems age and as households increasingly switch to higher efficiency panels, waste volumes from photovoltaic panels are projected to rise sharply over the next two decades. Around 14,000 tonnes of solar panel waste is generated in the state each year, and that figure is forecast to reach 89,000 tonnes by 2045.
The New South Wales Environment Protection Agency said in its consultation paper that existing disposal pathways are not sufficient to manage the growing waste stream safely and sustainably. It noted that most end-of-life photovoltaic panels continue to be sent to landfill, stockpiled or illegally dumped.
New South Wales Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said the proposed regulation is about more than cutting waste. She indicated it is also aimed at capturing valuable resources and creating new economic opportunities, adding that the state has embraced rooftop solar and now wants to prevent those panels from becoming a future landfill problem. She noted that solar panels contain valuable materials that can be recovered and put back to use, and said a mandatory product stewardship scheme can help build a circular economy for solar panels while supporting new recycling and manufacturing opportunities in New South Wales.
Smart Energy Council Chief Executive David McElrea said the proposed legislation offers a strong foundation for a circular economy, but warned that state-level initiatives need to be matched by a unified national framework led by the federal government. He commented that states and territories should ideally not have to act alone because solar supply chains do not stop at a border, and that a patchwork of rules would be more inefficient and costly for consumers, business, industry and authorities.
McElrea said New South Wales is showing leadership, but argued that unless the effort is transitioned into a Commonwealth scheme, more than 70 percent of Australia’s decommissioned solar panels will remain uncaptured outside New South Wales. He added that the federal government must deliver a national product stewardship framework to provide the scale, consistency and certainty the country needs.
Alongside the opening consultation on the draft regulation, the New South Wales government has released an issues paper seeking feedback on how the state can support growth in solar panel recycling, remanufacturing and manufacturing industries. Submissions on both the draft regulation and the issues paper are open until 16 November.
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