SolarPower Europe hosted the Product Sustainability Workstream Strategy Day, bringing together leading voices from the European Commission, industry, and the research community along with our members to advance a sustainable, circular, and competitive solar sector.
Workstream Chair, Pia Alina Lange, and Workstream Coordinator, Christina Maria Huber, opened the event by emphasising the critical role of sustainability as solar power continues to grow within Europe’s energy system. As Christina said, “Competitiveness is not just a new buzzword. As the solar sector takes on a larger share of Europe's energy mix, we must also strive to keep solar the most sustainable source of electricity.”
The day began with insights from Florina-Andreea Pantazi, Head of Unit REACH F1 at the European Commission, who provided updates on evolving regulations impacting the chemicals sector, including PFAS restrictions and the ongoing REACH revision.
Participants heard about the EU’s ambition to increase regulatory clarity, strengthen enforcement, boost investment in critical chemicals, and support innovation through future substitution and sustainability measures.
In the second session, the conversation then shifted to procurement, with contributions from Lukas Sloet (representing the Big Buyers Initiative) and Tobias E. Biller (RWE). Speakers outlined how both public authorities and major energy developers are integrating sustainability criteria into their procurement decisions.
Discussions highlighted an increasing focus on circularity in public procurement tools, the role of non‑price criteria such as environmental performance, supply chain transparency, and human rights, as well as the importance of solar PV module carbon footprint assessments in private sector procurement.
The session sparked a rich debate on how to keep sustainable solar accessible, affordable, and attractive across different market segments.
SolarPower Europe’s Senior Policy Advisor, Christina Maria Huber, and the Product Sustainability Workstream Chair, Pia Alina Lange, presented key updates on the Ecodesign Directive, outlining draft requirements, ongoing policy obstacles, and interactions with the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).
The afternoon focused on strategic topics regarding PV circularity, recycling and re-use of raw materials.
Alexander Wielgos, Policy Officer at DG ENV, European Commission, provided a comprehensive overview of the upcoming WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive revision, expected to reshape Europe’s circularity framework for solar PV. His presentation covered the potential creation of a dedicated solar PV category within the WEEE framework, improving collection and treatment standards, solutions to address leakage of valuable materials, as well as upcoming Joint Research Centre (JRC) workshops focused on critical raw material recovery & recycling standards that SolarPower Europe is invited to attend.
Subsequently, the research and innovation community contributed valuable insights to the strategy day attendees. Philippe Thony (CEA) and Marie Nicolle (Groupe Comet) presented progress from the EVERPV and RESiLEX projects. Their work demonstrates how advanced recycling technologies and material recovery can enable higher-quality reuse of glass, silicon, silver, polymers, and metals from end‑of‑life solar PV modules.
The session concluded with a collaborative exchange on overcoming current barriers to PV recycling, including reasons such as low volumes, impurities, design challenges, and limited market demand for recycled materials, and worked to identify policy levers that could enable a more circular solar PV value chain.
Workstream Vice‑Chair, Abeer Ali Khan, closed the day, describing the discussions as “extremely fruitful and interactive,” and reiterating the importance of continued cooperation between policymakers, technology providers, and the solar industry.
A big thank you to all speakers and participants for contributing to an engaging and forward‑looking Product Sustainability Strategy Day 2026!
Interested in becoming a member?
Why become a member?
Do you want to stay up-to-date about solar energy?
