‘Enabling a Circular Economy in India’s Solar Industry: Assessing the Solar Waste Quantum’ Report

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Report has been developed by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW), under the NITI Aayog Action Plan for Circular Economy (CE) – Solar Panels.
- NITI Aayog has finalized 10 sectoral CE action plans for implementation by stakeholder ministries/departments.

Need for Solar Waste Management:
- India’s installed 66.7 GW capacity (FY23), has generated about 100 kilotonnes (kt) of waste, with cumulative waste increasing to 600 kt by 2030.
- Solar waste contains:
  - Critical minerals such as silicon, copper, tellurium, and cadmium, whose recycling will reduce import dependency.
  - Toxic metals like lead and cadmium, which can contaminate water and soil and impact workforce health.
  - Metals like silver and silicon, having high economic value with applications in manufacturing industries.

Recommendations:
- Maintain a comprehensive database of the installed solar capacity for accurate mapping of waste generation centres.
- Solar cell and module producers should start developing waste collection and storage centres to adhere to the E-waste Management Rules 2022.
- Promoting safe recycling of and recovery from solar waste.
- Academia and industry should accelerate module recycling technology innovation.

Report on Circular Economy in Solar Panels to NITI Aayog
Solar PV cells made part of Electronic Waste (Management) Rules 2022
Solar PV recycling as priority thrust area under Renewable Energy Research and Technology Development (RE-RTD) Programme

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