This week, the European Council confirmed that solar module manufacturers will bear responsibility for the waste disposal and recycling of modules in the EU.
Under an amendment to its Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, the Council said that the cost for the recycling and disposal of solar modules placed on the market after 13 August 2012 rests with the producers of the products.
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The change follows a 2022 EU Court of Justice ruling which found the 2012 iteration of the WEEE Directive was partially invalid, as it retroactively put responsibility on solar module producers to account for waste from products put on the market between 13 August 2005 and 13 August 2012.
The Council also introduced a review clause whereby the European Commission (EC) must assess the need for a revision of the Directive no later than 2026.
These amendments will now be signed by co-legislators, published in the EU’s Official Journal and enter law 20 days later. Member states will have 18 months to transfer it into national law.
Recycling and end-of-life are a growing concern in the PV industry. PV Tech Premium has published a number of features over the last year looking into the issue, the upshot from which has been that activity on recycling has emerged more prominently in the US than in Europe.
Dedicated PV recycling firm Solarcycle recently signed a deal with Korean-owned solar manufacturer Hanwha Qcells to recycle modules produced at Qcells’ new US manufacturing facility. In July last year, the US Department of Energy announced US$25 million in funding for solar waste reduction and lifecycle technologies.
