Solar PV boom creates a new aluminium recycling opportunity as panel waste grows

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The solar industry has moved from a niche technology to one of the world’s fastest-growing sources of renewable power. But as installations surge, another question is becoming harder to ignore: what happens to all those panels when they break, lose efficiency or are replaced by newer technology?

There were 2.4 terawatts of solar PV capacity generating electricity worldwide at the end of 2025, enough to power more than one billion homes. It took almost 70 years to reach the first terawatt, but just two more years to reach the second. The International Energy Agency expects solar PV to account for 80 per cent of the 4,600 gigawatts of renewable energy deployed between 2025 and 2030.

This rapid growth also means more panels will eventually need to be repaired, reused or recycled. Solar panels contain valuable materials such as aluminium, silver, silicon, copper and glass, along with hazardous materials including lead and cadmium.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), recovering metals from end-of-life solar panels could generate around USD 6 billion a year by 2040. Recovered materials could meet around 20 per cent of the aluminium and copper and 70 per cent of the silver needed for PV growth.

Is solar ready for its growing waste stream?

Solar PV recycling facilities are already operating in major markets such as the EU, China and the US. In the EU, recycling has been mandatory since 2014 under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive. The system targets the collection of 85 per cent of end-of-life panels and the reuse or recycling of 80 per cent of those panels, with producers financing the process through a guarantee.

China, the world’s largest producer of solar PV technology, introduced a requirement in 2023 making plant owners responsible for collecting and treating end-of-life panels. Several Chinese solar PV manufacturers have also launched pilot recycling projects.

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For aluminium, the recycling process starts with removing the frames and remelting them. The remaining glass, along with silver, silicon and a portion of plastics, is generally shredded for uses such as glass wool in building insulation.

The bigger challenge may come as today’s growing installed base begins to age. IRENA forecasts that global solar waste will rise from 0.2 megatonnes in 2021 to 4 million tonnes in 2030, almost 50 million tonnes in 2040 and more than 200 million tonnes by 2050.

Ute Collier, deputy director of IRENA’s knowledge, policy and finance centre, says existing facilities may be able to handle today’s waste volumes, but the situation could become more difficult when large numbers of panels reach the end of their lives.

“When decommissioned solar PV panels are widely dispersed (geographically), and available in limited amounts, the market value of recovered materials may not be enough to cover the collection and processing costs,” she says.

Several governments, including the EU, India, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Singapore and US state governments, have introduced extended producer responsibility (EPR) policies to clarify who should pay for collection.

Also read: Nearly 8MT aluminium is used in solar photovoltaic – what is happening to its circularity at end-of-life?

Could longer panel life delay the waste problem?

Not everyone in the industry agrees with IRENA’s waste projections. Some believe solar panels are lasting considerably longer than expected.

Jan Clyncke, managing director of PV CYCLE, says an earlier IRENA forecast on solar waste, published in 2007, was the reason he founded PV CYCLE. Since starting operations in 2010, the organisation has collected 135,000 tonnes of PV waste, roughly equivalent to 2 gigawatts. This compares with around 450GW of solar PV installed across Europe.

PV CYCLE collected its highest annual volume in 2025, at 25,000 tonnes. However, Clyncke says this remains too little to attract recyclers.

Residential rooftop systems make the waste outlook even harder to predict. Homeowners may continue using panels as long as they generate enough electricity, regardless of their technical age.

This uncertainty is also prompting discussion about how panels should be designed. The EU is developing a recyclability scoring system for PV panels and inverters to improve the recovery of critical raw materials.

For Europe, limited recycling volumes and the dispersed location of PV modules remain major barriers. There is also a technical challenge. The encapsulant, essentially the glue that protects PV cells from moisture and weathering, makes it harder to recover materials at high quality, according to Christina Huber, senior policy advisor on sustainability at SolarPower Europe.

Henry Hielsmair, principal engineer for solar at DNV, highlights another trade-off: making panels last longer can reduce waste, but designing them for longer life may not always be compatible with making them easier to recycle.

PV modules could potentially last 40 years, compared with the current expectation of 25 to 30 years, particularly in utility projects. However, Hielsmair says manufacturers would need to price products according to quality. He also warns that some modules entering the market may not last as long as expected.

Recycling, reuse or longer life: what comes next?

The solar industry’s circular economy is not limited to turning old panels into new ones. Huber argues that recovered resources can also be used in other products and still remain part of a circular system.

At the same time, she acknowledges that waste volumes will eventually rise. She says regulations need to give recycling businesses greater confidence to invest in PV-specific infrastructure capable of recovering raw materials at high quality. The EU Waste Shipment Regulation can also make it difficult to move PV modules between countries, creating a need for regional recycling hubs.

The revision of the WEEE directive under the EU’s Circular Economy Act could be important. Huber believes this year will be crucial and expects solar PV to receive its own category and rules, which could encourage the recovery of critical raw materials and higher-value components.

Reuse offers another route. Collier describes it as a largely untapped opportunity, as many components from decommissioned panels could potentially be repaired, refurbished and reused. However, panels and components entering second-hand markets need proper inspection, testing and certification, supported by a robust quality infrastructure.

China is also preparing for a larger waste stream. The government is targeting the recycling and reuse of more than 250,000 tonnes of end-of-life solar PV panels by 2027, ahead of large-scale decommissioning expected from 2030. In March, it published national guidance to promote a circular economy for solar panels, including reducing waste through green design and manufacturing and supporting new recycling and reuse technologies.

Solar panels may also leave the field before they technically reach the end of their lives. SolarPower Europe says warranties typically cover PV modules for 25 to 30 years, until they reach 80 per cent capacity. However, large utilities may choose to repower sites with newer technology, allowing them to produce more electricity from the same land area.

Hielsmair says solar waste should also be viewed in the wider context of the energy transition. The amount of PV needed to meet 2050 climate targets will already reduce energy-related waste significantly, he says, with solar waste volumes “orders of magnitude” smaller than those from coal-fired power plants and other waste streams such as plastics and e-waste.

He warns that describing solar waste as an “environmental catastrophe” and pushing for landfill bans over toxicity concerns, as proposed in some US states, could alarm communities and slow the rollout of solar.

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Four companies pushing solar recycling forward

The recycling market is already seeing new technologies and business models.

SOLARCYCLE has developed technology to de-frame and de-glass PV panels at five sites across the US. It has also developed what it describes as the first solar module made with 50 per cent recycled glass from end-of-life panels. In January, it partnered with ENGIE North America on a “pre-cycling” provision in power purchase agreements for four projects, covering the recycling of around one million panels from 375MW of projects across the US Midwest when they reach the end of their lives.

French industrial cleantech company ROSI Solar has developed a process to recover high-purity strategic materials including silicon and silver, as well as copper, aluminium and glass. In April, it announced that it had secured more than 20 million euros to accelerate its industrial projects, including its first fully standardised production line in Spain.

US-based First Solar says it is the only solar manufacturer with global in-house PV recycling capabilities. Its process recovers more than 90 per cent of module materials, including semiconductors, for reuse as secondary resources in new solar panels and in glass, rubber and aluminium products.

China is also moving towards commercial-scale recycling. A solar PV recycling facility owned by a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned State Power Investment Corporation began commercial operations in March 2026. The facility can process more than 5,000 tonnes of end-of-life solar PV panels annually and has already supplied 120 tonnes of recovered materials back to the market.

As solar continues to expand, the challenge is no longer simply whether panels can be recycled. The bigger question is whether the industry can build the collection systems, recycling capacity, regulations and product designs needed before the waste volumes arrive.

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