The Texas House of Representatives passed a bill to require solar and wind projects to recycle their components at the end of their lifecycle.
HB 3228 would require renewable energy companies to recycle all components that are capable of being reused or recycled. The bill would also require nonrecyclable components to be properly disposed of. HB 3229 would set reporting and financial assurance requirements for recycling facilities. This bill aims to address a pass situation within the wind industry, where a recycling facility failed to fulfill its promise to General Electric to recycle about 5,000 wind turbine blades. Both bills were introduced by Rep. Stan Lambert (R).
Texas currently requires solar and wind companies to fully decommission projects, including removing the infrastructure and restoring the land. HB 3228 would add to these requirements, mandating that solar and wind projects provide landowners the estimated cost of removing the project from the landowner’s property, including recycling or disposing of all the project’s components project, within the project’s agreement.
HB 3228 was read in the Senate for the first time this week and referred to the Business and Commerce committee. The bill’s testimony received unanimous support while it was in the House committee, with 21 industry groups, businesses and individuals registering in favor of the bill.
According to the Department of Energy, Texas has several solar recycling facilities, including Electronic Recyclers International in Flower Mound, Echo Environmental Holdings in Carrollton, Device Services Group in McKinney, Okon Recycling in Dallas, Solarpanelrecycling.com in Breckenridge, and SolarCycle in Odessa.
Image: Department of Energy
Federally, solar modules are considered hazardous waste, while policies that require recycling or reuse of components are scattered among U.S. states.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), only a few states had policies requiring recycling or reuse of components at the time of decommissioning or end of life as of 2024. However, some states have enacted legislation related to waste characterization for solar panels to be recycled, while other states have varying requirements. Maine, for example, requires any recyclable solar components to be recycled by an authorized facility.
(See also: Experts weigh in on solar recycling, repowering and public policy & Solar panel recycling: Demand, technology and supply chain)
Texas introduced several other notable bills this legislative session. The Texas Senate passed one bill that would limit the growth of energy storage. The Texas Senate passed another bill that aims for tighter renewable energy restrictions by imposing stricter regulatory compliance and removing property tax incentives for large clean energy projects. A third bill would speed up the permitting process for residential solar and energy storage installations.
A recycling mandate in one of the biggest solar states would be a considerable win for environmentalists. Texas is expected to add the most solar among all states over the next 5 years, with a projected growth of 41 GW, according to SEIA. For context, the United States has about 224 GW of solar installed cumulatively in its entire history through 2024, 41.5 GW of which is in Texas.
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