Solar Panel Recycling in Australia: What the Government’s $24.7 Million Pilot Actually Means

The solar industry has a waste problem that many people do not see.

Over 4.2 million homes and businesses in Australia use rooftop solar, which is a big step for clean energy. But when panels are removed, 83% are not recycled. Most are stored in warehouses, shipped overseas, or sent to landfills. This is not good for the environment and is often left out of solar energy conversations.

In January 2026, the Australian government announced $24.7 million for a national solar panel recycling pilot. This is the first major investment after nearly ten years of talking about the problem. At PSC Energy, we remove panels and handle solar waste all the time. We’re here as educators today, not salespeople.

In this article, we will cover:

• What Happens to Old Solar Panels in Australia?
• Why the Problem Is Getting Worse Right Now
• Why Solar Panel Recycling in Australia Has Been So Difficult
• The $24.7 Million Solar Panel Recycling Pilot: What It Actually Involves
• It Is Not Just Panels: The Full Picture of Solar Industry Waste
• How PSC Energy Handles Solar Waste Right Now
• What You Can Do as a Solar Owner
• FAQ: Solar Panel Recycling in Australia

By the end of this article, you’ll understand what happens to old solar panels, what the recycling pilot program is, and what PSC Energy does with solar panels we remove from rooftops.

What Happens to Old Solar Panels in Australia?

Solar panels are now Australia’s fastest-growing category of electronic waste. Of the roughly 4 million panels decommissioned in Australia each year, only 17% are recycled properly. The rest are stockpiled, shipped overseas, or sent to landfill.

Many people think their installer takes care of panel disposal properly, but this is often not true.

Here is what a solar panel contains:

• Glass: approximately 75% of a panel’s total weight.
• Aluminium: in the frame and mounting structure.
• Copper: in the wiring and connectors.
• Silver: in the electrical contact strips.
• Silicon: the semiconductor material in the cells.
• Lead: in the solder connections on crystalline silicon panels (the most common type in Australia).
• Cadmium and selenium: present in higher concentrations in some thin-film panel types.

The first five materials are valuable and can be reused in manufacturing, which helps the clean energy transition.

The last two are hazardous. If panels go to landfill, these substances can leak into soil and water. Most states and territories classify solar panels as e-waste, but there is no single national law for how to handle them at the end of their life.

If you want to know more about solar panel recycling, you might want to check out the following article titled, What Happens to Old Solar Panels? The Truth About Reuse, Repair and Recycling.

Why the Problem Is Getting Worse Right Now

The solar installations that flooded Australian rooftops in the late 2000s and early 2010s are now ageing out. Homeowners who bought into the “$0 power bill” pitch 10 to 15 years ago are seeing those systems fail or underperform. Many of those early panels came with only a 10-year product warranty.

Modern panels have a 25 to 30-year performance warranty, but only if they are installed correctly. When Australia’s solar boom started, installation training was not as good as it is today. Because of this, some common problems from that time include:

• Rushed installations as businesses tried to keep pace with subsidy-driven demand.
• Corners cut on mounting, wiring, and weatherproofing.
• Mechanical damage from poor handling, including microcracks caused by workers walking directly across panels on the roof.

You cannot see microcracks on the surface, but they harm the solar cells inside. Cracked cells lose efficiency and wear out faster. Poor handling can cut a panel’s life in half. Many of these older systems are now being removed, and the number keeps growing.

By 2035, Australia is projected to generate approximately one million tonnes of solar panel waste, equivalent to around 50 million individual panels. Without dedicated recycling infrastructure, most of them end up in a landfill.

Why Solar Panel Recycling in Australia Has Been So Difficult

Recycling a solar panel sounds simple, but it is not. In 2025, the Productivity Commission found that recycling a panel costs about six times more than sending it to landfill. This big cost gap is the main problem.

Several factors drive that cost:

• Panel design: Solar panels are built to last for decades in harsh weather. They are sealed tightly. Taking them apart needs special equipment, and most were not made to be easy to recycle.
• Import dependency: almost all panels sold in Australia are manufactured overseas. Australian operators have no say in the design, and designs that make recycling harder are common.
• Scale: recycling only becomes economically viable when collection volumes are consistently high enough to keep a processing facility running profitably. For most of the past decade, volumes have not reached that threshold.
• Geography: Australia is a large country with solar installations in many remote and regional areas. Trucking panels from a property in outback Queensland to a capital city recycling facility is expensive, and nobody has been willing to absorb that cost reliably.

The main question is who should pay for recycling. It could be the homeowner, the local council with a tight budget, or the companies that made or imported the panels. Right now, no one has to pay, so panels are usually thrown away in the cheapest way.

If you’re interested in learning a bit more about working with a solar installer, you might want to check out the following article titled, Top Questions to Ask Your Solar Installer Before Hiring Them.

The $24.7 Million Solar Panel Recycling Pilot: What It Actually Involves

On 16 January 2026, the Australian Labour government committed $24.7 million over three years for a national solar panel recycling pilot, administered by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).

What the pilot involves:

• Up to 100 collection sites established across Australia, with specific attention to regional and remote areas where logistics have previously made recycling uneconomical.
• 250,000 end-of-life panels targeted for collection and processing.
• Primary focus on residential and small commercial panels, which represent the bulk of Australia’s solar fleet.
• A limited allocation for utility-scale solar farm panels.
• Data collection on transport costs, material recovery rates, and logistics across different panel types and ages.
• Planned commencement in mid-2026, with a tender process for a pilot administrator that closed in April 2026.

This pilot is more than a recycling project. It aims to gather information for a future national product stewardship scheme. Data on collection costs, recovery rates, and logistics in remote areas will help shape future rules.

The Australian government estimates that a full national product stewardship scheme for solar panels could unlock up to $7.3 billion in economic benefits through reduced landfill costs and the recovery of strategic materials.

The Productivity Commission, in its October 2025 report on Australia’s circular economy, recommended the government “urgently establish” a national recycling scheme for solar panels, and investigate a similar scheme for electric vehicle batteries.

Solar panels have been on the government’s product stewardship priority list since 2017. Although a discussion paper was released in 2023, it did not lead to action. The $24.7 million pilot is the first time significant funding and a clear deadline have been set for this issue.

It Is Not Just Panels: The Full Picture of Solar Industry Waste

Solar panels get most of the attention, but they are only one part of the waste problem for companies that install solar systems often.

At PSC Energy, we manage multiple waste streams across every job:

• Cardboard: generated in large volumes every week from inverter and battery deliveries.
• Single-use plastics and shrink wrap: still used in packaging by some battery manufacturers.
• Foam and protective materials: used in transit, most of which end up in general waste without a dedicated programme.
• Aluminium off-cuts: from panel racking and mounting systems.
• Copper scraps: from wiring and cable work.
• General e-waste: removed inverters, isolators, and monitoring equipment.

We have asked manufacturers to improve their packaging, but results have been mixed.

Tesla is ahead by using reusable hard-shell containers for its Powerwall batteries and pays us $150 for each one we return. We send all of them back. This payment makes recycling a practical financial choice.

Other battery makers have not caught up with Tesla. Some still use single-use plastic wrapping, and others have better packaging but still create a lot of cardboard waste. The industry as a whole still has work to do.

Battery waste will be a big issue in the future. The batteries being installed now will reach the end of their life in 15 to 20 years, creating a problem like the one we have with solar panels today. We need to build the right infrastructure before this happens.

If you’re interested in learning a bit more about lowering greenhouse gas emissions with solar, you might want to check out the following article titled, What Is Net Zero by 2050 for Australia?

How PSC Energy Handles Solar Waste Right Now

PSC Energy does not wait for new rules to manage waste responsibly. Here is what we do now:

• Every solar panel we remove from a roof is sent to a recycling facility or given a second life.
• Second life means functional panels that still work go to households or organisations that need them, rather than being destroyed or landfilled.
• We separate all waste streams: metals go to metal recyclers, cardboard is baled through a compactor, and general waste is minimised.
• Income from recycling aluminium, copper, and other recovered metals fully funds the cost of our cardboard compactor and general waste disposal. Our net waste cost is zero.
• We accept Tesla battery shells for the return incentive, and we actively work with other suppliers to secure similar take-back arrangements.

Good waste management needs planning. If a business does not plan for waste from the start, costs and problems will build up over time. A well-designed program can break even, but a poor one will keep costing money.

What You Can Do as a Solar Owner

You cannot fix solar panel recycling in Australia by yourself. But the choices you make about your system can reduce waste, help your panels last longer, and improve what happens to them at the end of their life.

• Maintain your system every year: regular inspections catch faults early. Dirty panels, loose connections, and minor electrical faults all accelerate degradation. A well-maintained system lasts its full warranty term.
• Ask about repair before replacement: if one or two panels underperform, replacing the entire system is rarely necessary. Ask your installer whether the fault can be fixed before agreeing to a full removal.
• Ask what happens to your old panels. Before any removal, ask where the panels will go, if the installer uses a certified recycling facility, and if working panels can be reused instead of destroyed.
• Avoid unnecessary upgrades. Upgrading a working system just to get a new rebate is wasteful. If your system works well, keeping it is better for the environment and usually costs less.

If you’re interested in learning a bit more about expanding your energy system, you might want to check out the following article titled, Expanding Your Solar Panel System with Batteries and Add-Ons.

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FAQ: Solar Panel Recycling in Australia

What happens to old solar panels in Australia?

Most old solar panels do not get recycled. Only about 17% go through a proper recycling process. The rest are stockpiled in warehouses, exported overseas, or sent to landfill. Australia does not yet have a mandatory national recycling scheme for solar panels, so disposal practices vary widely and are largely unregulated.

Can solar panels be recycled in Australia?

Yes, solar panels can be recycled. They contain glass, aluminium, copper, silver, and silicon, all of which can be recovered and reused. The challenge is cost. Recycling a panel currently costs about 6 times as much as landfilling it, which is why voluntary recycling rates are so low without financial incentives or regulation to close that gap.

What is the $24.7 million solar panel recycling pilot program?

In January 2026, the Australian Labour government announced $24.7 million over three years for a national solar panel recycling pilot, administered by DCCEEW. The program will establish up to 100 collection sites across Australia, target 250,000 end-of-life panels, and gather data to build the case for a future mandatory product stewardship scheme. It is expected to commence in mid-2026.

Why are so few solar panels recycled in Australia?

Several factors combine to make solar panel recycling difficult: panels are hard to disassemble, processing infrastructure is limited, transport costs in remote areas are high, and no one is currently required by law to pay for recycling. Without a mandatory stewardship scheme, landfill remains the cheapest and most common outcome.

Who pays for solar panel recycling in Australia?

Currently, no one is legally required to pay. Costs typically fall on the homeowner or the installer, with no national framework mandating who is responsible. The government’s $24.7 million pilot is designed to test what a workable funding model looks like, and the likely outcome of a full scheme is that manufacturers and importers would fund recycling through levies built into the sale price of new panels.

What materials can be recovered from recycled solar panels?

A solar panel is primarily glass (about 75% of its weight), along with an aluminium frame, copper wiring, silver contact strips, and silicon cells. All of these can be recovered and fed back into manufacturing. The Smart Energy Council describes panels as “not a waste problem, rather a critical resource” containing commodities critical to the clean energy transition.

Is solar panel waste hazardous?

Standard crystalline silicon panels (the most common type in Australia) contain small amounts of lead in the solder. Thin-film panel types can contain higher concentrations of cadmium and selenium. These materials are classified as hazardous waste in most Australian states and territories, which affects how panels must be transported and stored. Proper recycling keeps those materials out of the environment.

When will Australia have a mandatory solar panel recycling scheme?

Australia does not yet have a mandatory scheme. The $24.7 million pilot, expected to run from mid-2026, will generate the data needed to design one. If the pilot succeeds, a mandatory product stewardship scheme under the Product Stewardship Act 2011 is likely the next step, but no confirmed timeline has been set yet.

What can I do with my old solar panels right now?

Ask your installer whether panels can be repaired, reused, or sent to a certified recycling facility. Functioning panels can often be given a second life rather than destroyed. Before any removal work begins, ask directly what will happen to the old equipment. A responsible installer will have a clear answer.

Sources:

• National recycling pilot to address solar panel waste issues — pv magazine Australia
• DCCEEW Launches $24.7M Tender for National Solar Panel Recycling Pilot — iEnvironmental Australia
• Joint media release: Labour pilots national solar panel recycling program
• Australian government commits AU$24.7 million to national solar module recycling pilot — pv-tech.org