US-based think tank RAND in collaboration with RMIT University, Victoria have published a policy brief on the urgency for Australia to implement a circular economy policy for solar technologies.
Following research sponsored by the federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources, the report says cumulative end-of-life (EoL) solar waste in Australia is projected to reach 1.1 million tones by 2035 and could triple by 2050.
However, the infrastructure, regulation and market mechanisms needed to manage the waste stream do not yet exist at scale, with the report suggesting it is a now-or-never scenario.
Authored by RAND Adjunct Senior Policy Researcher Benjamin Lee Preston in collaboration with RMIT Universit Circular Economy Research Fellow James Bond, the research found three barriers exist to cementing EoL solar panel circularity, which are:
Recommendations
The ‘Towards an Australian Circular Economy for Solar Photovoltaics Technologies’ policy brief also offers three actions, which include the establishment of a national PV circularity framework by mid-2027.
Inconsistencies across states and territories also contribute to gaps for circularity and the paper calls on extending the Product Stewardship Act to cover solar panels, to set a minimum recycling efficiency standard and establish liability indemnification for panel reuse.
The paper also recommends the federal government should finance commercial-scale recycling and reuse infrastructure by 2028 to support the development of necessary infrastructure.
By 2027, it recommends a national solar panel reuse certification and digital marketplace be established to connect panel supplies with secondary market demand.
“Reuse must be the first-priority circular pathway. Additionally, the marketplace needs to generate provenance and condition data to underpin downstream recycling efficiency. To do so, leasing business models—identified as commercially promising—should be developed alongside the certification framework,” the paper says.
Critical minerals
Recoverable silver from Australia’s solar waste could be worth more than $6 billion (USD 4.2 billion) per year by 2035, with copper recovery adding $600 million annually, the paper proposes.
“Recovered PV materials could meet up to 100% per cent of Australia’s domestic silver and aluminium demand by 2050, directly supporting national critical mineral security,” the research found.
Regional hubs were found to be the best model to activate a solar circular scheme and were research identified they consistently outperform centralised facilities across financial, logistical and operational metrics, where a techno-economic modelling of a 2,500 tonne per year recycling facility could be financially viable in five Australian states, with payback periods of 7.2 to 8 years.
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