Billions of solar panels are on the verge of being phased out worldwide. If they are thrown away, then much of the basic material needed to make future panels is being wasted. It is estimated that by 2050, about 4 billion solar panels weighing a total of 78 million tons will be discarded. However, due to the design of the panels, it is not easy to get reusable materials from them, so it is likely that most of the panels will simply be shredded during the recycling process. But this will contaminate the material and make recycling more difficult.
There is an urgent need around the world to design electronics that make it easy to extract the materials contained so that we can reuse them in new products and avoid waste. If we don't change the way we use materials, we will limit the next phase of renewable and environmentally friendly technology deployment in society, not help mitigate climate change, and lose the materials we need in them.
The total value of discarded solar panels, if they could be effectively recycled, would be $15 billion, making 2 billion new solar panels. In addition, additional economic benefits could be created, as 70% of greenhouse gas emissions are associated with the extraction, manufacture and use of the material. If the world continues to keep extracting resources from the earth, we will not be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, much less mitigate climate change.
It is important that we avoid a situation where we have to compete for materials because of technological concerns. To do otherwise would further limit the application of technology and weaken society's ability to respond to the climate crisis. For example, semiconductor materials are widely used not only to make computer chips, but also solar panels and low-energy lighting; the same magnets used in wind turbines are used in low-carbon vehicles. Emerging solar technologies will use certain elements (such as indium) due to concerns about future supply shortages.
For emerging technologies to be truly sustainable, then we should extract relevant materials from them before the products are phased out. When developing emerging technologies, they should be integrated with the circular economy and view waste as a resource so that they can provide the greatest benefit to society and offer truly sustainable technologies.
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