Developing circular economy policies to accelerate solar deployment

To unlock economies of scale and reduce recycling costs, the Circular Economy Act should establish a single European market for waste, and create the enabling conditions for trans-regional recycling hubs. This can be supported through 
facilitating intra-EU cross-border waste transportation for the purpose of recycling and recovery. Solar PV panels should also be classified as non-hazardous waste across all Member States. In addition, the European Commission must establish a level-playing field for recycling and Member State-wide harmonisation.

Beyond an efficient single market for waste the EU should take additional measures to support the development of the European circular economy. For this we strongly encourage the EU to develop public awareness campaigns on the benefits of PV recycling a lack of information and often misinformation is prevalent among consumers. Furthermore, Member States should support licensing and infrastructure development for PV recycling operations at the national level to encourage the establishment of PV recycling hubs.

Developing diversified and resilient supply chains for secondary raw materials within the European Union starts at enabling and encouraging the recovery of strategic and critical raw materials from high-potential waste streams. Within the scope of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) revision, the European Commission should set realistic and feasible collection and recycling targets for solar PV panels and inverters based on material value, technological feasibility and strategic importance, not weight alone. Furthermore, any further commitments aimed at improving material recyclability must be developed in close collaboration across the entire value chain. The Circular Economy Act and the WEEE revision should be also carefully aligned with the upcoming Ecodesign Regulation.