Public Citizen Testimony in Support of HB 3228 — Recycling of Solar and Wind Generating Equipment
Public Citizen Testimony in Support of HB 3228 -- Recycling of Solar and Wind Generating Equipment
To: Chairman Ken King and the Members of the House Committee on State Affairs
CC: Rep. Ana Hernandez, Rep. Rafael Anchía, Rep. Drew Darby, Rep. Yvonne Davis, Rep. Charlie Geren, Rep. Ryan Guillen, Rep. Lacey Hull, Rep. John W. McQueeney, Rep. Will Metcalf, Rep. Dade Phelan, Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, Rep. John T. Smithee, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, Rep. Chris Turner
Via hand delivery and by email.
From: Kaiba White (kwhite@citizen.org), Sonia Joshi (sjoshi@citizen.org), and Adrian Shelley (ashelley@citizen.org) Public Citizen, 512-477-1155
Re: HB 3228, recycling or disposal provisions in certain lease agreements of wind or solar power facilities– Public Citizen testimony in support
Dear Chairman King and Members of the Committee:
Public Citizen appreciates the opportunity to testify in support of HB 3228, relating to the inclusion of recycling or disposal provisions in certain lease agreements of wind or solar power facilities. We support this bill because it will help to ensure that equipment is properly disposed of at its end of life and will keep as much material as possible out of landfills.
Solar panel waste is an imminent challenge that must be addressed.
By 2030, up to 8 million metric tons of solar panel waste is projected to accumulate globally. By 2050, that figure is projected to increase to up to 78 million metric tons gobally and the United States is projected to become the second-largest contributor.1 Recycling solar panels tends to be more expensive than landfilling them, with recycling ranging from $15 to $45 per panel, and landfilling cost ranging between $1 to $5 per panel.2 Because landfilling is currently cheaper and no federal regulation requires solar panel recycling, about 90% of solar panels in the United States are landifilled at their end of life.3
Solar panels are recyclable and contain valuable materials.
Over 85% of the materials in solar panels are recoverable with existing recycling techniques.4 While research and development to develop panels that can be more easily recycled and to develop more comprehensive recycling methods, there is immense benefit to recycling now. By 2030, approximately $450 million worth of reusable raw materials from decommissioned panels will be available globally—enough to manufacture over 60 million new panels. By
2050, the recoverable value could exceed $15 billion, and could be used to manufacture 2 billion panels, or 630 GW of solar capacity.5 Recycled materials can provide a buffer against international supply chain challenges. This supply of materials, including alluminum, can help keep the domestic solar manufacturing industry growing.
Recycling solar panels reduces environmental impact.
While solar energy already has a much lower environmental impact than fossil fuel generation, all products have an impact. Glass, plastic, aluminum, silicon and copper are the materials that make up the bulk of solar panels.6 Recycling these materials uses less energy than manufacturing virgin materials.7 Manufacturing aluminum also comes with other environmental problems, including air and water pollution.8 Likewise, plastic production is a major source of air pollution9 and water pollution.
Requiring financial assurance to cover recycling at the time to installation will increase recycling rates.
HB 3228 will require financial assurances for decommissioning wind and solar solar farms to include recycling whenever possible. This should increase the recycling rate by better ensuring that the costs of recycling are accounted for at the time of construction. The earlier in the manufacturing, sales or construction process that money for recycling is set aside, the more material can be expected to be recycled.
In conclusion, we support HB 3228 because it will help to ensure that materials that can be recycled will be, thus reducing environmental impact and putting valuable resources back into manufacturing.