Decarbonising our energy industry is one of the most effective levers we have here in Australia to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and the faster we do this, the better. This means we need a rapid rollout of renewable energy, and THIS means the construction and installation of a lot of energy infrastructure. So where will all of these materials ultimately end up?

While there are multiple reasons for transitioning our energy industry, environmental concerns are front and centre for many of us. But for all of the efforts we've made to reduce single-use plastic and combat illegal dumping, could all of that hard work be undone when renewables reach the end of their useful lives and go to landfill? Not necessarily! In fact, the University of NSW has found that the industry could be entirely circular by 2050. 

A couple of good examples of reuse and recycling are:

• BlueTribe has just commissioned its first reused solar panel installation in Wagga Wagga
• PV Industries have patents pending on new panel recycling technologies
• Circular PV Alliance is an industry body leading conversations
• Smart Energy Council PV Stewardship trial will imminently open six collection sites for small scale solar, with a target to collect 30,000 panels to trial the logistics of collection.

There are a number of regulations (e.g. stopping panels being able to be dumped in landfill), technical standards (e.g. reuse of panels) and policy incentives (e.g. mandatory product stewardship), that need to be in place to encourage growth in recycling.

Credit for the information in this blog post goes to Clare Silcock (Energy Strategist at the Queensland Conservation Council).