Waste generated from France's first PV recycling facility to find use in aluminium sector

French waste giant Veolia has announced that they have opened first PV recycling facility in Rousset, Bouches-du-Rhône, southern France. The plant will recycle 1,400 tonnes of material per year from 2017 and scale up to 4,000 tonnes by 2021.

Veolia has teamed with PV Cycle, the Pan-European take-back and recycling association, for the installation of first PV recycling facility. The waste generated from this plant will be utilized in other sectors such as aluminium, glass and copper.

Nicolas Defrenne, chief executive of PV Cycle France, said: "This first unit dedicated to recycling used photovoltaic panels is part of the high value-added strategy in our sector, recovering nearly 96% of materials while reducing the environmental impact of the collection process.”

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The recycling facility will help the solar plant owners to act in accordance with the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive as they mandate end-of-life recycling of PV panels.

PV Cycle also updated that 55,000 tonnes of PV panels were installed in France in 2016. France’s Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy recently revealed new large-scale tenders for utility-scale solar, self-consumption and solar innovations such as solar roads.