Solar recycling industry calls on government to unpause pilot, reboot it before end of year

The solar recycling industry is now going public with demands for the government to act, as the suspension of Australia’s long-promised pilot enters in its sixth month.

Eight industry heavyweights want the government to make a binding commitment to start the pilot inside of this year, and to use its powers to forcibly break the current standoff.

“Without immediate legal and procedural intervention by the Commonwealth, this prolonged procedural delay threatens the financial viability of Australia’s emerging solar recycling sector and risks compounding an environmental crisis,” says the joint industry statement.

Labor announced the $25.7 million recycling pilot to much fanfare in January.

It was supposed to start in July, setting up 100 solar panel collection sites around the country and paying a per-panel fee intended to encourage everyone from rooftop installers to large scale farms to recycle rather than dump, store, or sell to illegal exporters. 

The one-year pilot is also intended to inform an ongoing stewardship scheme that would let Australia handle the forecast 1 million tonnes of solar panels by 2035, and more in the years after. 

But the whole process ground to halt in May after a probity complaint was made about the process to appoint a scheme administrator. 

Since then, rumours have been flying about who laid the complaint, and why.

Media advisors for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) have consistently said over the ensuing months that its hands are tied as the problem is in the hands of lawyers.

Today, it declined to respond to questions about whether or when the pilot will start, whether it might provide financial support for recyclers in limbo, or whether there are any alternative plans for stockpiled solar panels in the absence of a pilot and stewardship scheme.

“The government remains committed to the policy objectives of the National Solar Panel Recycling Pilot. The procurement remains suspended,” says a statement emailed to Renew Economy.

Initial high hopes that, this time, a federal recycling scheme might actually get off the ground have begun to fade. 

The dire situation for solar panel recyclers, who say they need the pilot and following stewardship scheme to funnel materials to their businesses, comes as the Albanese government reneged on a plastics recycling scheme, citing cost of living pressures. 

The solar recycling industry letter was sent to ministers and DCCEEW in August and made public today. 

It was led by PV Industries cofounder James Petesic, and cosigned by the heads of ReSource, Pac Pacific Recycling, Elecsome, Environmental Solar Recycling Australia, SPR Australia, Second Life Solar, and PV MRF. 

The Smart Energy Council, which has led efforts to bring about a stewardship scheme, was not a signatory.  

They want the government and DCCEEW to commit to a binding start date for the pilot that is before the end of 2026

And they want a procurement act used to unbung the administrator procurement process, with a Public Interest Certificate.

This would formally declare that suspending the procurement process while the complaint is investigated is not in the public interest.

Renew Economy has reported regularly on recyclers’ fears of insolvency and throttled financing as investors sit on their hands as they remain stuck in a holding pattern. 

“Ongoing regulatory and procurement uncertainty has frozen millions of dollars in planned private sector investment,” the joint statement says. 

“Financiers, technology providers, and infrastructure developers are hesitating to commit further capital to domestic recycling capacity while key national programs remain stalled.”

In the interim, recyclers are eating costs such as leases and compliance overheads, as panel volumes promised by the pilot remain on hiatus. 

Troy Rowe, founder of ReSource, told Renew Economy they are “losing an insane amount of money” waiting for the pilot to start.

The joint statement says panel dumping and stockpiling is eroding trust in the industry, as the estimated 4 million panels a year are diverted from the more expensive option of recycling. 

Recently Petesic also told this publication that exports are still causing a headache for recyclers, even though the practice is illegal.

It says the pause undermines Future Made In Australia goals of supporting manufacturing in-country, misses out on a key waste diversion stream, and is wasting time and money as recyclers idle expensive equipment. 

One person is less concerned about the lack of a pilot or stewardship scheme, and that is Lotus Energy founder Anthony Vippond. 

“We don’t need a stewardship scheme,” Vippond told Renew Economy.

“There’s enough value in a solar panel to not have to impose another levy onto our industry, and impose more paperwork and more bureaucracy. 

“All we need is a requirement to recycle by law and hefty fines for not recycling and recyclers not meeting their expectations.”

There is no love lost between the solar recycling industry and Vippond.

He questions whether many other companies are recycling to the extent they say they are and as such a stewardship scheme won’t work. 

If you would like to join more than 29,000 others and get the latest clean energy news delivered straight to your inbox, for free, you can click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.