1132886

editorial2022
WMR0010.1177/0734242X221132886Waste Management & ResearchEditorial

Editorial

Waste Management & Research

End-of-waste criteria in the framework

2022, Vol. 40(12) 1677­–1679
© The Author(s) 2022
Article reuse guidelines:
of end-of-life PV panels concerning sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0734242X221132886
https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X221132886

circular economy strategy journals.sagepub.com/home/wmr

Without limitation, there is a global emphasis on the reuse of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). As PV play a key
materials to increase circularity. However, the concept of circu- role in sustainable energy production, Rubino et al. (2020)
lar economy is very complex while targeting many strategies indicated that as PV panels are involved in European Directives
in the framework of waste management. Access to clean and (as WEEE), recycling (80%) and recovery (85%) as well as
sustainable energy is vital while among the most preferable separate collection scheme should be implemented. Combined
renewable energy production is through photovoltaic (PV) Panel with the definition provided by article 6 of the waste frame-
even though their valuable life spam is approximately 30 years. work directive (WFD) on end-of-waste criteria (EWC), end-
There is huge gap on a common approach on how end-of-life PV of-life PV panels must meet specific quality protocols to be
panels should be approached considering the circular economy reused, recycled, remanufacture, repair and so on. The main
strategy. goal of EWC (Antoniou and Zorpas, 2019; Kazamias and
Zorpas, 2021; Zorpas, 2015) is to eliminate the administrative
loads of waste legislation for safe, effective high-quality waste
Introduction
materials to facilitate recycling while also promoting stand-
The global energy consumption in all forms (barrels of petro- ardization and safety assurance to improve harmonization and
leum, cubic meters of natural gas etc.) is projected to reach 678 legal certainty aligned with circular economy.
quadrillion Btu (or 715 exajoules) by 2030 – a 44% increase According to Zorpas (2015), in the EU, the EWC consider the
over 2008 levels (Land Art Generator, 2009). The European materials as non-waste. This is so only if the EWC is published
Green Deal is targeting climate neutrality by 2050 and one of by the commission or by any Legal authorities apart from mem-
the primary universal energy sources is expected to be the PV ber states as national quality protocols applicable only to the
panels to help European Union (EU) countries to achieve this country in which EWC is implemented in. This would prevent
goal. With PV valuables, life spam to be approximately 30 years, ‘case-by-case’ classification of items and/or materials as waste
by the end of 2050, 92.7 million tons PV panels will reach their unless it meets the specific waste definition. EWC implies that a
end-of-life globally (Figure 1) and should be treated properly. waste reaches a level of processing where it has essential extended
In just 3 years, Solar Power Europe predicts global solar to value. Furthermore, according to Joint Research Centre (JRC)
more than double to 2.3 terawatts in 2025. It is estimated that 2012 reports, EWC for any end-of-waste material or product
496,805 km2 (191,817 square miles) are required to power the (such as PV panels) requires the development, application, estab-
world with solar panels (Solar Power Europe, 2022). The lishment and implementation of quality protocols to increase
IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency (2016) has market confidence regarding the quality of product and encour-
reported that solar PV module prices have fallen by 80% in the age recycling and recovery (Joint Research Centre Institute for
last decade, while installed capacity has grown from 40 GW to Prospective Technological, 2012).
over 600 GW in the same period (ESMAP, 2022). In addition, Main concept of EWC is recovery, including in its concept
by the end of 2018, global cumulative installed PV capacity recycling and operation while fulfilling specific criteria in
reached about 512 GW, of which about 180 GW (35%) were accordance with specific conditions. These criteria and condi-
utility-scale plants (Markert et al., 2020). tion explore (a) if the material/object/substance is used for
specific purposes, (b) the existence/market/demand for a spe-
cific object/substance/material, (c) the fulfilment of technical
End-of-waste criteria – End-of-life PV
requirements for specific purposes and compliance with exist-
panels
ing legislation and standards and (d) if the use of the object/
The main goal of Circular Economy is the independence on substance/material will lead to environmental or human health
primary materials and energy while increasing social prosper- implications. Lastly, the criteria include, where necessary, pol-
ity (Voukkali et al., 2021). For high recyclable material rate, lutant limit values and possible environmental effects of the
several applications are prioritized including waste from substance/object/material.
1678 Waste Management & Research 40(12)

Figure 1.  Global statistics concerning PV panels installations (Land Art Generator, 2009; Solar Power Europe, 2022; Tan et al.,
2022). PV: photovoltaic.

All the existing methods to treat end-of-life PV panels do not consumption of materials, electricity, investments and other) is
follow the concept of EWC even though they should be followed comparably very small (0.3 USD/m2) with the economic value of
globally. There are several processes in place in several EU recycled materials of 13.6 USD/m2. The net benefit of recycling
states, under which waste ceases to be waste aligned with several is 6.7 USD/m2 while when including external costs, the net ben-
(National or EU) waste legislations (Joint Research Centre efit is 1.19 USD/m2. Literature review provides solution from
Institute for Prospective Technological, 2012; Zorpas, 2015). end-of-life PV panels without any specific criteria to be applied,
Material recovery as well as natural consumption and use while limited data is present on existing methods which are
(Sustainable Development Goal 12 of the United Nations) are in divided into two main categories: chemical and physical meth-
line with the WFD approach, as well as with the circular econ- ods. Usually, physical methods cover mechanical recovery (man-
omy strategy. ual dismasting) and crashing (dividing smaller ethylene vinyl
EWC is a useful tool for the introduction of secondary raw acetate particles). However, since physical recovery produces
materials in circular economy and the reduction of dependency low purity materials which cannot be easily reused in other facili-
on primary raw materials. Compared to principal raw resources, ties, criteria and protocols are essential. Other practices may
secondary raw materials have several restrictions due to safety include flotation (divide glass sizes), electrostatic separation
reasons but also availability, accessibility, efficiency as well as (separates each substance by its electrical conductivity), eddy
cost. To declassify a waste and to develop a critical market, the current separation (separate the crushed recyclable material) and
new product must not have health and environmental implica- mechanical screening (sorts the recyclates by size, shape, thick-
tions in order for it to be considered. EWC demonstrated the ness etc.). In addition, pyrolysis and/or gasification are consid-
power of the processing of waste to create added value and pro- ered as another physical end-of-life PV recovery techniques.
vide new mindset to businesses through circular economy. However, temperature is gaining significant importance as well
Therefore, EWC is essential for any waste introduced into the as the produced pyrolysis oils need further attention to be declas-
industry. sified prior further used (i.e. internal compunction engine).
Still, the end-of-life management of PV panels includes sev-
eral rough patches arising from several issues. As the large-scale
Conclusion and future trends
uptake of PV technologies is relatively new, there is limited infra-
structure for recovering/recycling of elements from PV panels A new discipline in the core of chemical, environmental, electri-
with no regards to the future recycling capacities. Thus, the ben- cal and mechanical engineering, material science, energy engi-
efits/costs of PV panel recycling are unknown. A private cost neers and other should be introduced for future generation
(i.e. transportation, landfilling) of end-of-life management of engineers to design, promote and establish innovation on end-of-
PV panels (c-Si PV) is 6.7 USD/m2, while the actual cost (i.e. life PV panels and redesign next-generation PV modules. There
Editorial 1679

is an increasing need for optimization and analyse of PV recy- pdf/Global-Photovoltaic-Power-Potential-by-Country.pdf (accessed 31

August 2022).
cling and end-of-life options which in upcoming years will be a
IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency (2016) End-of-life manage-
huge area of sustainability interest (for environment, society and ment: solar photovoltaic panels. Available at: http://www.irena.org/pub-
economy). Vital research areas include the declassification of PV lications/2016/Jun/End-of-life-management-Solar-Photovoltaic-Panels
modules considering EWC, promotion of new quality protocols (accessed 11 August 2022).
Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (2012)
for reuse of PV panels, optimizing material recovery methods, End-of-waste criteria: Final report. Publications Office. DOI: 10.2791/28650.
promotion of common sustainable strategy to treat end-of-life PV Kazamias G and Zorpas AA (2021) Drill cuttings waste management from oil
panels and promotion of Key Performance Indicators and multic- & gas exploitation industries through end-of-waste criteria in the frame-
work of circular economy strategy. Journal of Cleaner Production 322:
riteria analysis to assess the environmental performance of the
129098.
end-of-life PV panels through unified waste metrics. More than Land Art Generator (2009) Total land area required to fuel the world with
that, the International Solid Waste Associate (ISWA) and Waste solar. Available at: https://landartgenerator.org/blagi/archives/127
Management and Research Journal will have a vital and impor- (accessed 31 August 2022).
Markert E, Celik I and Apul D (2020) Private and externality costs and ben-
tant role to play, as they intend to lead this global exertion on efits of recycling crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaic panels. Energies
end-of-life PV panel. Hence, ISWA should prepare a global 13: 3650.
report on the core of end-of-life PV modules. Rubino A, Granata G, Moscardini E, et al. (2020) Development and techno-
economic analysis of an advanced recycling process for photovoltaic
panels enabling polymer separation and recovery of Ag and Si. Energies
Acknowledgements
13: 6690.
The authors would like to thank the authors for submitting their Solar Power Europe (2022). World Installs a Record 168 GW of Solar Power
excellent contributions to the journal. A special thank you goes to in 2021, enters Solar Terawatt Age. Available at: https://www.solarpow-
ISWA, the editor in chief of the Waste Management and Research ereurope.org/press-releases/world-installs-a-record-168-gw-of-solar-
and the SAGE publishers’ team for their outstanding management of power-in-2021-enters-solar-terawatt-age (accessed 31 August 2022).
the journal. Tan J, Jia S and Ramakrishna S (2022) End-of-life photovoltaic modules.
Energies. DOI: 10.3390/en15145113.
Voukkali I, Loizia P, Navarro-Pedreño J, et al. (2021) Urban strategies
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Iliana Papamichael Antonis A Zorpas

Laboratory of Chemical Engineering Laboratory of Chemical Engineering
and Engineering Sustainability Open, and Engineering Sustainability Open,
University of Cyprus, University of Cyprus, Faculty of Pure
Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, and Applied Sciences, Nicosia, Cyprus
Nicosia, Cyprus Emails: [email protected];
Email: [email protected] [email protected]