🌱 Why is improving waste management around energy infrastructure important?
To reach its climate targets, the EU aims to “conver[t] its electricity supply system from fossil fuels to mostly low- and net-zero-energy sources”. This transition unsurprisingly involves “a substantial overhaul of infrastructure” and the “decommissioning [of] materials from fossil-fuel-based electricity production”. To explore the waste created through this process and find ways to shift to a more circular economy, the European Commission (EC) published a report titled “Circular economy strategies for the EU's renewable electricity supply” on 10 January 2025. The report provides policy recommendations on how the waste from decommissioned photovoltaics (PV) and wind turbines, as well as decommissioned fossil fuel power plants, could be better managed.
🌱 What improvements could be made in relation to wind?
According to the EC report, improving the waste management of wind blades is essential. In line with this, the report suggests “[c]onsidering an extended producer responsibility scheme for turbines”. It also proposes to improve the “data collection for installation and decommissioning of wind turbines” to allow better foresight into the waste volumes. To this end, it recommends “[c]reating common waste codes”, as well as “[t]racking the fate of materials after decommissioning to support reuse and repurposing business models”.
🌱 What improvements could be made in relation to solar?
The EC report sets out that “[i]mproving [the] recyclability of PV modules and inverters through design regulation” is key to improving the waste management of solar energy technologies. According to the EC report, other ways to improve the recycling of PV include setting “recycling targets focused on [the] economic value of materials” and creating “[m]easures to better understand and promote PV reuse including certification requirements, safety measures, and warranty”.
🌱 What improvements could be made in relation to fossil fuel power plants?
According to the EC report, the waste management of decommissioned fossil fuel power plants could be improved through more thorough planning in the pre-demolition phase and by providing more “[g]uidance and knowledge sharing on repurposing and reuse of materials”. The report also sets out that “better EU-wide future planning” could be achieved by closely “[s]urveying locations and materials” throughout the EU.
Read more about the EU’s waste management of energy technologies here: https://op.europa.eu/s/z1w