Photovoltaic waste: India’s solar push augurs a looming waste management challenge
26-08-2023
12:14 PM
1 min read
What’s in today’s article?
- Why in News?
- What is Photovoltaic Waste?
- What are the Challenges India faces in Photovoltaic waste Management?
- How have other Countries Responded?
- What are the Recent Initiatives of the Indian Government to Reduce Photovoltaic wastes?
- What is the Way ahead in India’s Photovoltaic waste management?
Why in News?
- Even though there has been a concerted push from policymakers in India to transition to a circular economy, waste management in the solar photovoltaic sector still lacks clear directives.
What is Photovoltaic Waste?
- Globally, India stands fourth in solar photovoltaic deployment, with a solar power installed capacity of nearly 62 GW by 2022.
- India’s solar photovoltaic installations are dominated by crystalline silicon (c-Si) technology.
- A typical photovoltaic panel is made up of 93% of c-Si modules and 7% of cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film modules.
- The metals used to manufacture c-Si modules are silver, tin, and lead. The CdTe thin film module is made of glass, encapsulant, and compound semiconductor.
- While this is certainly encouraging, it indicates a serious issue of solar photovoltaic waste in future.
- According to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency, India could generate 50,000-3,25,000 tonnes of cumulative photovoltaic waste by 2030 and more than 4 million tonnes by 2050.
- India is expected to become one of the top five leading photovoltaic waste producers globally by 2045-2050.
- According to a 2021 report, approximately 50% of total materials can be recovered through such waste management and recycling processes.
What are the Challenges India faces in Photovoltaic waste Management?
- The growing informal handling: Only about 20% of the waste is recovered in general, the rest is treated informally.
- Waste accumulation at landfills: This in turn causes acidification, leaching of toxic metals (such as lead and cadmium) into the soil, and contaminates the local water.
- Leading to pollution: Gradual incineration of the panel encapsulant also releases sulphur dioxide, hydrogen fluoride, and hydrogen cyanide into the atmosphere.
- Ignorance of appropriate disposal practices: Among multiple actors and institutions across the supply chain, including producers, owners, consumers, and waste disposal facilities.
- Small market to repurpose or reuse recycled photovoltaic waste: This is because of a lack of suitable incentives and schemes in which businesses can invest.
- The absence of a regulatory body: To measure, monitor, and report solar photovoltaic waste.
How have other Countries Responded?
- The European Union’s ‘Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive’ makes producers responsible for safely and responsibly disposing of end-of-life photovoltaic panels.
- In the U.S., states have the freedom to establish their own solar photovoltaic regulatory standards.
- Manufacturers in Japan are responsible for developing environment-friendly recycling technologies through public-private partnerships and launching awareness campaigns about their benefits.
- China has introduced an implementation plan for life-cycle management and to improve the resource efficiency of solar photovoltaic panels.
- Chinese researchers are also developing recycling processes to recover silicon from end-of-life panels and process them back into solar wafers.
What are the Recent Initiatives of the Indian Government to Reduce Photovoltaic wastes?
- The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change’s revised electronic waste (e-waste) management Rules in 2022 brought solar photovoltaic cells, panels, and modules under its ambit.
- The Green Credit Programme under the Environmental Protection Act 1986, announced in the 2022-2023 Union Budget, aimed to promote green growth and sustainable practices.
- The latest production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme promotes the domestic manufacturing of high-efficiency solar photovoltaic modules.
Way ahead in India’s Photovoltaic waste management
- Avoiding clubbing of photovoltaic waste with other e-waste: India should formulate and implement provisions specific to photovoltaic waste treatment within the ambit of the e-waste guidelines.
- A legislative framework to enforce the Extended Producer Responsibility Rules.
- A Central insurance or a regulatory body should be set up to protect against financial losses incurred in waste collection and treatment.
- To give away the practice of classifying waste generated from photovoltaic modules as hazardous.
- Pan-India sensitisation drives and awareness programmes on photovoltaic waste management and clear recycling targets in the photovoltaic waste management policy directive are needed.
- Paying more attention to domestic R&D efforts. Depending on a single module type will deplete certain natural resources and stunt the local capacity for recycling and recovery of critical materials.
- The methods/best practices of other countries could be a good reference point for India to develop ‘Made in India’ manufacturing capabilities, recycling technologies, and waste management strategies in this field.
Q1) What are the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016?
It provides for compulsory authorisation of the dismantling and recycling units from the concerned State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/ Pollution Control Committees (PCCs).
Q2) What is the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)?
It is an intergovernmental organisation (founded in 2009) mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy.
Source: India’s solar push augurs a looming waste management challenge