A long-awaited change to California’s regulations on the handling of solar panel waste is expected to take effect later this year, with implications that could shape the developing U.S. solar panel recycling industry.
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is poised to classify solar panels as a subset of hazardous waste known as universal waste – a change that, legal experts say, makes recycling the panels easier in several ways. In the long run, this move could create a regulatory model that other states can follow, a critical development as the amount of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels that will need to be handled greatly increases in coming decades. California – which in 2018 produced about two-fifths of all electricity generated by PV solar, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) – attempted to change this regulation seven years ago.
For example, under the current classification in California, a generator of solar panel waste must move it off-site in under 90 days after generation. But under the universal waste classification, the waste can stay on-site for up to a year, allowing it to be transported to recycling facilities in bulk. This new approach comes as the demand for ways to efficiently and economically recycle solar panels is set to jump due to the quickly increasing prominence of solar power in global electricity generation.
Source: Waste Dive
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