PV CYCLE members, which consist of solar companies, have approved the 2010 operating budget, new statutes and by-laws to fund and implement a take-back and recycling programme for end-of-life solar PV modules.
“The overwhelming endorsement of the 2010 operating budget, new statutes and by-laws by the Members of PV CYCLE represents a key milestone in implementing the photovoltaic (PV) industry’s voluntary commitment to collect and recycle modules at end-of-life,” says Karsten Wambach, PV CYCLE’s President.
“The PV industry is committed to be ‘double green’ by not only providing clean and renewable energy to address climate change but also to ensure that the solutions to climate change today don’t pose a waste management issue for future generations.”
Jan Clyncke, Managing Director of PV CYCLE, adds: “The actions … are a significant milestone toward the implementation of a voluntary take-back and recycling programme for the PV industry. Such an agreement will represent for the first time that an industry sector in Europe has organised itself on a voluntary basis to ensure collection and recycling of its products at end-of-life. I am extremely pleased to lead an industry organization with such foresight and commitment to ‘Making the photovoltaic industry DoubleGreen’.”
PV CYCLE will be issuing requests for tender for both collection and recycling services for solar PV modules in advance of its 2010 implementation.