A group of researchers from Brazil’s Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR) has proposed a framework to assess the recycling costs of PV systems, focusing on emerging economies. The framework is based on a literature review and an expert evaluation they conducted.
“This study proposes a structured decision-support framework to support the assessment and management of recycling costs associated with end-of-life photovoltaic panels, with a particular focus on emerging economies,” the group said. “Emerging economies provide the empirical context for developing and validating the proposed framework. Consequently, the category weights and cost prioritization reflect this context, although the framework may be adapted to different regulatory, technological, and market conditions.”
The researchers developed the framework through a systematic literature review, functional cost classification, and expert assessment. Searches in Scopus and Web of Science initially identified 5,784 records, with filtering, duplicate removal, and screening yielding 23 studies explicitly reporting PV recycling costs.
The team extracted 33 cost components and used the Function Analysis System Technique (FAST) to group them into five categories. The first two were infrastructure and facilities (equipment depreciation, collection point operating costs, collection point installation, recycling site installation, and facility investment); and logistics and resources (input storage, transportation, waste collection, auxiliary material acquisition, reverse logistics, and component inventory).
The remaining categories were operations and production (scale, processing, electricity, component handling, component treatment, labor, equipment maintenance, general operating costs, component dismantling, machinery and equipment cleaning, and disposal of non-recoverable parts); management and finance (administrative management, administrative costs, sales costs, material costs, taxes and fees, opportunity costs, indirect economic costs, and financing through bank loans); and sustainability and environmental impacts (external environmental costs, avoided landfill costs, and environmental management costs).
Next, 19 experts rated each component on a five-point importance scale and assessed category relevance from 0% to 100%. The researchers applied the Fuzzy Delphi method to aggregate these judgments and calculate normalized relevance scores, followed by Mean Rank Position analysis to screen borderline components, ultimately retaining 22. The 11 excluded components were input storage, electricity, component handling, equipment maintenance, auxiliary material acquisition, equipment depreciation, administrative management, administrative costs, collection point installation, opportunity costs, and machinery and equipment cleaning.
An adapted Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) procedure assigned relative weights to the categories. Finally, the team defined a Costs Index by averaging normalized component values within each category and summing the weighted category scores.
The analysis assigned the highest weight to operations and production (21.71%), followed by infrastructure and facilities (21.48%), logistics and resources (20.11%), sustainability and environmental impacts (18.91%), and management and finance (17.79%). Among the individual components, processing, component treatment, and recycling site installation received the highest normalized relevance scores, at 1.000, 0.882, and 0.836, respectively. Machinery and equipment cleaning and administrative costs received the lowest scores, at 0.039 and 0.000, respectively.
“As its main outcome, the study delivers a structured framework for organizing and assessing photovoltaic panel recycling cost components, providing a consistent basis for comparing technological alternatives, logistics arrangements, suppliers, and regulatory scenarios, thereby supporting strategic planning, operational management, and investment decisions within the photovoltaic circular economy,” the group concluded. “Although developed in the context of an emerging economy, the framework may be adapted to other regional settings by recalibrating cost components and category weights to local conditions.”
The article “A decision-support framework for structuring and assessing photovoltaic panel recycling costs in emerging economies” has appeared in the Journal of Cleaner Production.
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