Many MindedJapan weighs advance recycling plans for owners retiring 50 tons of solar panels
Japan's Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) have proposed a trigger for the country's new solar recycling law. Owners of commercial solar installations who dispose of 50 metric tons or more of panels would have to file a disposal plan in advance. The idea went to a study group drafting the implementing rules for the Act on Promoting the Recycling of Solar Cell Waste. The Act was enacted May 29 and promulgated June 5. It must take effect within 18 months, and the government schedule points to around early December 2027.
The law has three tiers: a general duty to promote recycling for all disposers, guidance and advice for commercial disposers, and advance plans, recommendations and orders for commercial disposers above the threshold. The group compared 40, 50 and 60 MT. They would capture 38.7%, 38.3% and 37.9% of panel waste expected from 2027 to 2050, and cover 8,368, 7,398 and 6,784 facilities. At 50 MT, 94.9% of the 6,267 module models installed in Japan would meet the per-MW threshold. To stop split disposals, panels removed in a single decommissioning or repowering within about one year would count as one disposal. Documented disaster, failure or maintenance replacements would not count.
This matters because the government now projects end-of-life panel waste peaking at up to about 500,000 MT a year in the 2040s. Its earlier estimate was 170,000 to 280,000 MT a year around 2035 to 2037. Requiring plans from the largest disposers, who hold a large share of the waste with relatively few facilities, gives recyclers visibility and could help lower the long-run cost of clean power. Recycling capacity is still a gap: of 81 processors surveyed, 46 could accept double-glass panels and 21 could accept BIPV panels.
Watch the joint council review from December to March, then public consultation, with rules planned around spring 2027 when recyclers can pre-apply for certification. The 50 MT figure and the scope are proposals, not final rules. Industry outlet IRU-MIRU reported most members backed 50 MT, while some argued for 40 MT. Perovskite, gallium arsenide and other specialty cells are excluded for now because no recycling routes exist, and that scope would be reviewed as technology and markets develop.
Source: pv magazine