One state moves toward mandating solar panel recycling

Legislation in Arizona would establish recycling requirements for end-of-life solar panels, requiring manufacturers to create a recycling program or face a per-panel fee at point-of-sale. HB 2828, introduced last month by Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem, enacts a landfill ban on solar panels and electric vehicle batteries and requires them to be recycled at approved processing sites. It also implements a $5 per panel fee on the seller or leasor of the products, unless the manufacturer of the panel has established a recycling program that accepts and processes panels. The bill covers solar panels in residential, commercial and industrial use. The fee money would be collected as a tax by the state Department of Revenue. That pot of money would be used to pay the recycling facilities that process solar panels not covered by a manufacturer’s recycling program.