A fully automated industrial line for recycling photovoltaic modules at the end of their life has been operating since the start of 2025 at the Raee.man srl plant in Sale, in Italy’s Alessandria province. Developed by Ecoprogetti for Haiki+, a leading Italian circular economy group, the facility shows that solar panel recycling is moving beyond the experimental phase into structured, continuous production.
The new line replaces the first plants that have operated since 2015, which relied on technologies now considered outdated. It can process up to 120 panels per hour, equal to one panel every 30 seconds and about 4 tonnes per hour. It has run on more than two shifts for over a year, achieving 94% uptime, one of the highest levels in the industry. The line needs only three operators, which helps keep operating costs low.
At the centre of the plant is Ecoprogetti’s patented technology for total glass removal. The step is critical, because glass that is not fully separated can contaminate the silicon fraction, reducing its purity and limiting recovery options. Glass that is poorly separated or contaminated also becomes unusable and fails to meet end of life criteria. The Ecoprogetti system uses contactless air technology, with no chemicals and no mechanical abrasion tools such as milling cutters, blades or rollers. This allows complete glass removal without metal contamination.
Glass, copper, silicon and other materials can then be returned to new production cycles. Integrated filtration and separation systems limit residual waste and prevent the formation of mixed glass and silicon fractions that are hard to recover. The company says the result is very low consumption, low wear and greater production continuity.
Marco Manfron, Managing Director, said the line shows that photovoltaic recycling can follow true industrial principles: high capacity, automation, operational continuity and quality of output material. He described the technology as a tangible leap forward from earlier solutions, as it handles large volumes while reducing machine downtime and improving the quality of recovered fractions.
For Haiki+, the investment strengthens its industrial assets dedicated to the circular economy. The group operates across batteries, industrial materials, technological waste and the recovery of secondary raw materials. It reports consolidated revenue of more than €300 million, manages over 825,000 tonnes of waste a year, sends more than 450,000 tonnes for treatment and recovers over 220,000 tonnes as valuable materials.
Giovanni Rosti, Managing Director of Haiki+, said photovoltaics is a key sector of the energy transition, but its growth must be matched by concrete industrial solutions for module end of life. He said the group chose a high capacity technology that is already operational and able to ensure quality, continuity and traceability, consistent with its mission of turning waste into new resources.
The plant marks a shift from early recycling methods, which were less productive, less stable and more manual, to an automated platform built for continuous operation with more competitive costs. The approach focuses not simply on disposal but on selective recovery of critical raw materials and the valorization of recoverable fractions.
Laura Sartore, CEO of Ecoprogetti, said the company has 30 years of experience in photovoltaics and knows how modules are produced, layered and changed over the years as technologies evolved. She said delamination of the glass from the panel is the key challenge, which is why Ecoprogetti developed its patented technology alongside sophisticated automation systems.
The line was designed and manufactured entirely in Italy. Ecoprogetti, based in the province of Padua, develops machinery and automatic lines for producing and recycling photovoltaic modules. It has more than 150 employees, an 8,000 m² production area and 100% Made in Italy production. The company reports revenue of about €40 million, with 95% generated abroad, and is a market leader in module assembly lines, with a presence in India, Europe, the United States and other emerging solar markets.
The project is significant given the expected growth in modules to be decommissioned. According to IRENA and IEA PVPS estimates, cumulative photovoltaic waste in Italy could reach about 2.2 million tonnes by 2050, largely glass, aluminum, silicon and other recoverable materials. Such volumes will create an industrial wave of recycling that fragmented, low-capacity solutions or disposal focused approaches cannot manage. Automatic, high productivity plants with selective processes and high-quality output are needed, and the Ecoprogetti line installed for Haiki+ shows that this transition has already begun.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
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