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Australia could face a solar panel waste crisis within a decade unless it urgently introduces national recycling and reuse laws, a report has warned.
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However, the engineering team at La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus may have the answer.
Their research is exploring how components recovered from end-of-life solar panels can be reused in construction materials, including as a partial replacement for cement in concrete.
RMIT University and global think tank RAND released findings from a report on October 29, 2026 stating that the nation’s record take-up of rooftop solar could generate more than 1.1 million tonnes of waste by 2035.
In Victoria, solar panels are classified as hazardous waste and are not accepted into landfill.
Australia’s first generation of solar panels is beginning to reach the end of its life, with estimates panel waste will equate to two million tonnes nationally by 2050.
Fortunately, Associate Professor of Structural Engineering Vipul Patel and Professor Ing Kong are working on the problem at La Trobe’s Bendigo campus.
“Cement is very carbon intensive,” Associate Professor Patel said in a campus newsletter.
“If we can replace part of it with another material while maintaining the performance of the concrete, we’re reducing waste and making the concrete more sustainable.”
The team is working with outdated household solar panels and panels damaged during transport, supplied by two regional solar groups.
The work is also leading to a growth in engineering research at Bendigo.
Grants, industry partnerships and other support have steadily built the equipment and capability at the Bendigo campus needed for the team to undertake most of its research locally.
By the end of this year, more than 10 research students are expected to be working with them on the Bendigo campus.
“People told me when I came here that you don’t get big research funding at a regional campus,” Professor Kong said in the campus newsletter.
“I thought, let’s see.”
It is hoped that maintaining research activity in Bendigo could create opportunities for local industry – from solar panel recycling to companies seeking help testing new plastics and even the strength of hemp bricks.
The findings from the RMIT/RAND report, as reported by AAP, came one day after representatives from the federal environment department revealed a $24.7 million national solar panel recycling pilot had been stalled since May because of a single complaint.
The international study analysed challenges and opportunities posed by Australia’s widespread use of solar panels, including projected waste volumes, recycling costs, and economic returns.
Voluntary industry recycling rules had already proved inadequate, it said, and a mandatory product stewardship scheme should be crafted by mid-2027.
More than $1 billion worth of materials could be extracted from the panels by 2035, researchers estimated, including silver, copper, silicon and aluminium.
Recovering these materials could also create 9.2 jobs for every 10,000 tonnes of waste, which RMIT Professor Xavier Mulet said represented a substantial opportunity.
“The longer we wait, the more difficult and expensive it becomes to capture those benefits,” he said.
“Every panel that ends up in landfill represents a lost opportunity to recover critical materials, support local manufacturing and create jobs.”
The government should also establish a national marketplace for used solar panels, the report said, as between 45 and 65 per cent of decommissioned panels were still functional and only 10 per cent were tested.
Australia had the potential to lead the world in solar technology recycling and reuse if it acted swiftly, lead researcher and RMIT environmental engineering lead Associate Professor Ylias Sabri said.
More than 4.5 million solar systems have been installed in Australia since 2001, according to the Clean Energy Regulator, including more than 247,000 in 2026.
– with Australian Associated Press
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