{"id":27756,"date":"2026-03-30T23:48:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T23:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/2026\/03\/30\/the-race-to-solve-solar-energys-recycling-problem\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:48:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T23:48:38","slug":"the-race-to-solve-solar-energys-recycling-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/2026\/03\/30\/the-race-to-solve-solar-energys-recycling-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"The race to solve solar energy&#8217;s recycling problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"youtubomatic-video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"autoplay\" width=\"580\" height=\"380\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/34efX2y127M?controls=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Right now, millions of old solar panels are headed for landfills. This is not just really bad news for the environment as there are heavy metals like cadmium or lead in some of them, it&#8217;s also a huge waste of raw materials. Within the EU, solar panels already have to be recycled. But companies are still chasing the tech that makes it viable to reuse the recovered materials in new solar panels. <\/p>\n<p>#planeta #solarpanel #solarrecycling<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn&#8217;t need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world \u2014 and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we&#8217;ll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.<\/p>\n<p>Follow Planet A on TikTok: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@<\/a>dw_planeta?la&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Credits:<br \/>Reporter: Kai Steinecke<br \/>Supervising Editor: Michael Trobridge<br \/>Camera: Luis Carballo<br \/>Video Editor: Frederik Willmann<br \/>Fact-check: Alexander Paquet<br \/>Thumbnail: Em Chabridon<\/p>\n<p>Read more:<br \/>Meta Study Recycling Solar Panels <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0959652624011090#bib126\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0959652624011090#bib126<\/a><br \/>LCA Assesment of Disposed and Recycled End-of-Life Solar Panels <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2071-1050\/13\/19\/11025\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2071-1050\/13\/19\/11025<\/a><br \/>NREL Polymer-free Panels <a href=\"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/10443029\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/10443029<\/a><br \/>TNO Release Encapsulant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tno.nl\/en\/sustainable\/renewable-electricity\/solar-modules-mass-customization\/silicon-solar-panels-circular-design\/fully-recyclable-solarpanels\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.tno.nl\/en\/sustainable\/renewable-electricity\/solar-modules-mass-customization\/silicon-solar-panels-circular-design\/fully-recyclable-solarpanels\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Chapters:<br \/>0:00 Intro<br \/>0:54 Difficult solar recycling<br \/>3:12 First step: Heat<br \/>5:51 Mechanical sorting &#038; alternatives<br \/>8:21 Chemical recycling<br \/>10:32 Economics<br \/>14:19 Redesign solar panels<br \/>15:25 Conclusion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Right now, millions of old solar panels are headed for landfills. This is not just really bad news for the environment as there are heavy metals like cadmium or lead in some of them, it&#8217;s also a huge waste of raw materials. Within the EU, solar panels already have to be recycled. But companies are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8553,"featured_media":27757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[930,929,87925,39,87929,1143,3297,1138,69408,87922,87928,4315,87920,31,87923,80231,5889,87927,87924,87926,87930,32,87921,48694,946],"tags":[912,911,87914,12,87918,1129,3281,1124,69399,87911,87917,4311,87909,4,87912,80220,5874,87916,87913,87915,87919,5,87910,48688,928],"class_list":["post-27756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-deutsche-welle","category-dw","category-economics-of-solar-recycling","category-green-energy","category-green-energy-waste","category-photovoltaic","category-planet-a","category-pv","category-pv-module-recycling","category-pv-recycling-process","category-recycling-photovoltaic-cells","category-recycling-solar-panels","category-recyling","category-renewable-energy","category-rosi-recycling-facility","category-solar-energy-waste","category-solar-panel-recycling","category-solar-panel-redesign","category-solar-panel-silver-recovery","category-solar-panel-upcycling","category-solar-panel-waste-management","category-solar-panels","category-solar-trash-by-2030","category-sustainable-solar-panels","category-ytccon","tag-deutsche-welle","tag-dw","tag-economics-of-solar-recycling","tag-green-energy","tag-green-energy-waste","tag-photovoltaic","tag-planet-a","tag-pv","tag-pv-module-recycling","tag-pv-recycling-process","tag-recycling-photovoltaic-cells","tag-recycling-solar-panels","tag-recyling","tag-renewable-energy","tag-rosi-recycling-facility","tag-solar-energy-waste","tag-solar-panel-recycling","tag-solar-panel-redesign","tag-solar-panel-silver-recovery","tag-solar-panel-upcycling","tag-solar-panel-waste-management","tag-solar-panels","tag-solar-trash-by-2030","tag-sustainable-solar-panels","tag-ytccon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8553"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/youtubomatic-test\/demoa26f6b3a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}