Solar Panel Recycling and Product Stewardship Progress

Senator Peter Whish-Wilson questioned the progress on solar panel recycling and product stewardship, with Chloe Bird, Branch Head of the Circular Economy Division, providing an update on the current status and future plans. The discussion highlighted the work being done on examining technologies available for recycling, analyzing the market, and understanding the costs and revenues involved in solar panel recycling. Bird explained that solar panels were listed on the minister's product priority list a number of years ago and a co-design process with industry was undertaken, but it became clear that an industry-led scheme was not feasible at that time. As a result, the Commonwealth is now exploring regulatory action and conducting a policy impact assessment and cost-benefit analysis. Bird noted that there are varying levels of quality of recovery, ranging from basic destruction to recovering critical minerals like gold, silver, and other minerals. The exact recovery rates are not currently available, but are being scoped. According to Bird, the expected solar panel waste in 2024 is approximately 52,000 tons, which is anticipated to rise to around 90,000 tons by 2030. This increase is attributed to the 20-year lifetime of solar panels, resulting in a delay between installation and waste generation. Alessio Miatto from the CSIRO shared his experience studying solar panels in the US, where the recovery rate was around 10%, and noted that the low rate is partly due to the 20-year lifetime of solar panels. Miatto suggested that the situation is likely similar in Australia, with a current low volume of solar panels entering the waste stream, but expected to rise. Senator Whish-Wilson also inquired about tangible progress in rates of recovery for solar PV and specific research projects on the technical aspects of solar panel recycling. Additionally, Brett Molony from the CSIRO mentioned that they are working on the recovery and potential of next-generation PV, and offered to provide more information on this topic.