Contents
- Solar panel recycling statistics: European PV waste collection
- Solar panel recycling statistics: Country recycling and recovery data
- Solar panel recycling statistics: End-of-life waste projections
- Solar panel recycling rates and material recovery from solar modules
- Solar panel recycling capacity, costs, and collection systems
- Solar panel recycling statistics: Reporting gaps and measurement limits
- Sources
Solar panel recycling statistics: European PV waste collection
Reported collection figures describe material entering a waste system; they do not by themselves show how much was treated, recovered, or recycled. In Europe, IEA-PVPS cites Eurostat figures showing that 18 reporting countries collected 48,395 tonnes of PV module waste in 2022. The report calls these the latest available data at publication. The country count and collection measure define the scope: this is not a complete total for every European country, nor a recycling rate. (IEA-PVPS, Status of PV Module Recycling in IEA PVPS Task 12 Countries)
France’s Soren system reported 13,760 tonnes of PV panels collected in 2025. Its published method breakdown assigns 12,879 tonnes to on-site collection and 881 tonnes to voluntary drop-off points. These are components of the same France-wide total, not additional tonnage to add to it. Soren also listed 323 voluntary drop-off points in France as of 31 December 2025. (Soren, Rapport d’activité 2025)
The same report gives a geographic breakdown: 11,780 tonnes were collected in metropolitan French regions in 2025. That figure is a geographic component of the national collection total. The method and geographic breakdowns describe different ways of organizing the total and should not be combined as if they were independent quantities. (Soren, Rapport d’activité 2025)
Solar panel recycling statistics: Country recycling and recovery data
Collection, treatment, recovery, and recycling are separate reported flows. The figures below retain each source’s label rather than treating those terms as interchangeable.
| Geography and period | Measure | Reported quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Germany, 2022 | PV modules collected | 16,430 tonnes |
| Germany, 2022 | PV modules recovered | 16,017 tonnes |
| Spain, 2022 | PV modules collected | 2,603.33 tonnes |
| Spain, 2022 | PV modules treated | 2,537.95 tonnes |
| Spain, 2022 | PV modules recovered | 2,284.19 tonnes |
The German report gives distinct collection and recovery quantities. Spain’s figures come from a WEEE Category 7 table, where treatment can include modules collected in an earlier period; the three columns therefore represent different stages and need not form a same-cohort conversion. (IEA-PVPS, Status of PV Module Recycling in IEA PVPS Task 12 Countries)
Belgium reported 1,855 tonnes of PV module waste collected and treated in 2022. The report says about 70% of collected waste was recycled and that no reuse was reported. The approximate percentage is explicitly tied to collected waste, while the tonnage is a combined collection-and-treatment statement. (IEA-PVPS, Status of PV Module Recycling in IEA PVPS Task 12 Countries)
South Korea’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) data show a target quota of 159 tonnes and treated volume of 688 tonnes in 2023. The report identifies 2023 as the first EPR year and says 688 tonnes of PV module waste were recycled. For 2024, the table lists a 212-tonne target quota and an estimated treated volume of 1,250 tonnes. The estimate marker matters: it is not a final measured total. (IEA-PVPS, Status of PV Module Recycling in IEA PVPS Task 12 Countries)
Solar panel recycling statistics: End-of-life waste projections
The IRENA and IEA-PVPS report published in 2016 modeled cumulative PV panel waste under two distinct loss scenarios. These are historical model outputs, not observed waste totals or updated forecasts.
| Geography and projection year | Regular-loss scenario | Early-loss scenario |
|---|---|---|
| Global, 2030 | 1.7 million tonnes | 8 million tonnes |
| Global, 2050 | 60 million tonnes | 78 million tonnes |
| United States, 2030 | 170,000 tonnes | 1 million tonnes |
| United States, 2050 | 7.5 million tonnes | — |
| Australia, 2030 | 30,000 tonnes | 145,000 tonnes |
| Italy, 2030 | 140,000 tonnes | 500,000 tonnes |
The source provides a 2050 regular-loss value for the United States in the checked observations, but no corresponding early-loss figure here; the dash is not a zero. For Australia and Italy, both scenario figures are available for 2030. Across these examples, the scenarios are materially different, so any use of the values should name the scenario and the 2016 publication date. (IRENA and IEA-PVPS, End-of-Life Management: Solar Photovoltaic Panels)
Solar panel recycling rates and material recovery from solar modules
EU WEEE rules set targets from 2018 onward of recovery equal to 85% by mass of collected PV panel waste and reuse or recycling equal to 80% by mass. These are regulatory targets, not observed results. “Recovery” is broader than recycling, so the two target percentages describe different outcomes. (JRC, Deep dive on critical raw materials for solar photovoltaics in the EU)
The JRC’s 2018 table reports waste recovered relative to waste treated for its listed reporting categories. The aggregate and country values below preserve that denominator.
| 2018 reporting category | Recovered PV waste as a share of treated waste |
|---|---|
| Germany | 98.0% |
| France | 97.3% |
| Italy | 88.6% |
| Spain | 90.2% |
| Listed categories, total | 93.4% |
The table reports 13,951 tonnes collected and 13,799 tonnes treated across those categories. It records 12,894 tonnes recovered and 11,902 tonnes recycled and prepared for reuse. The latter combined measure should not be read as recycling alone. The “Others” category contributes 430 tonnes of collected waste and combines Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. (JRC, Deep dive on critical raw materials for solar photovoltaics in the EU)
The 2018 European WEEE table reported a 86.4% ratio of recycled or reused PV waste to treated PV waste. Deep dive on critical raw materials for solar photovoltaics in the EU (JRC141760, 2025)
Solar panel recycling capacity, costs, and collection systems
Collection infrastructure, processing capacity, fees, and financial arrangements describe different parts of a recycling system. Belgium’s PV CYCLE network had 88 collection points in 2023. In France, Soren’s 2025 accounting lists 323 voluntary drop-off points at year-end, alongside the collection figures described above. These counts are dated network measures, not tonnage processed. (IEA-PVPS, Status of PV Module Recycling in IEA PVPS Task 12 Countries; Soren, Rapport d’activité 2025)
IEA-PVPS reported that Australia’s surveyed recycling companies typically charged AUD 3–15 per module for recycling, based on a survey conducted from June through October 2024. The report does not present this as a universal price and notes that it is a recycling fee, which may not include collection charges. Separately, the report lists mechanical processing capacity at Elecsome’s Kilmany, Victoria plant as 1 million modules a year, or 5 tonnes per hour. This is company-reported capacity, not evidence of actual annual throughput. (IEA-PVPS, Status of PV Module Recycling in IEA PVPS Task 12 Countries)
Italy’s GSE arrangement specifies EUR 10 per domestic PV module at the 15th incentive year. For professional modules, it specifies EUR 10 per module, with the fee spread over the last 10 incentive years. These are stated end-of-life guarantee values for installations under the arrangement, not measured recycling costs. (IEA-PVPS, Status of PV Module Recycling in IEA PVPS Task 12 Countries)
Australia announced AUD 24.7 million for a solar panel recycling pilot on 16 January 2026. The department described a target of collecting up to 250,000 panels from around 100 sites. Its page, updated 11 November 2026, says procurement was cancelled without a contract award and next steps were under consideration. The funding is an announcement, and the panel figure is a target rather than completed collection. (Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Solar panels)
The 2025 IEA-PVPS report lists 43 U.S. companies understood to accept PV modules or materials for recycling. It cautions that companies may be missing from the list or included despite not providing those services. This is an author-compiled list, not a count of dedicated recyclers or verified operating facilities. (IEA-PVPS, Status of PV Module Recycling in IEA PVPS Task 12 Countries)
Solar panel recycling statistics: Reporting gaps and measurement limits
JRC reported that 76,605 tonnes of PV waste had been collected across 20 EU Member States by 2021. It also projected annual EU collection of 162,000 tonnes by 2030 and cumulative collection of 712,000 tonnes by 2030 under an assumption that waste from previous years is not recycled. The annual figure and cumulative figure answer different questions; both projections should remain labeled as estimates, rather than being presented as observed collection. (JRC, Deep dive on critical raw materials for solar photovoltaics in the EU)
Reporting coverage and outcome measures also limit comparisons. In 2021, 6 of the 12 countries that reported on recycling met the WEEE target. That denominator is the countries reporting recycling outcomes, not all EU Member States. In a stakeholder survey summarized by JRC, 35% of respondents identified collection of PV waste as the most significant barrier. The survey result represents those respondents’ views, not a measured share of waste that could not be collected. (JRC, Deep dive on critical raw materials for solar photovoltaics in the EU)
Sources
- Status of PV Module Recycling in IEA PVPS Task 12 Countries (IEA PVPS T12-31:2025)
- Deep dive on critical raw materials for solar photovoltaics in the EU (JRC141760, 2025)
- End-of-Life Management: Solar Photovoltaic Panels (IRENA and IEA-PVPS, 2016)
- Solar panels (Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water)
- Rapport d’activité 2025 (Soren)