In a study on waste management in the renewable energy sectors published on Friday 10 January, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) points out that the EU’s renewable electricity supply industries are not quite ready to go circular.
The report states that as the energy transition progresses, volumes of waste (steel, copper, aluminium, concrete, fibreglass and glass) from renewable technologies such as photovoltaic modules and wind turbine blades will be generated “in far greater quantities and at faster rates than previously estimated”.
For steel alone, the volume accumulated in photovoltaic solar panels (10,940 tonnes), wind turbines (274,194 tonnes) and decommissioned fossil fuel power plants, accumulated between now and 2023, is estimated at 5,896,134 tonnes.
However, the study shows that the proper collection and recycling of key materials, such as the silver in photovoltaic panels, could meet the new demand for photovoltaic panel manufacturing, if produced in the EU. In addition, as fossil fuels are phased out, “incentivising the secondary materials markets [will help to] keep up with [...] emerging waste streams”.
At present, existing regulatory and knowledge gaps hinder circularity. The study therefore encourages political decision-makers to harmonise waste management legislation, examine re-use possibilities and encourage recycling.
In the case of wind turbines, this could be achieved by establishing a European registry of wind turbine decommissioning, promoting the use of recycled panels in the EU as inputs for manufacturing new photovoltaic panels, and establishing guidelines on the reconditioning and reuse of materials for fossil fuel decommissioning.
To see the study: https://aeur.eu/f/f12 (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)