EU Policy. Solar panel manufacturers will have to pay for disposal under new EU rules
Legislative update follows ruling from the EU Court of Justice related to products marketed before 2012.
Waste from solar photovoltaic (PV) panels will be collected, treated and recovered at the expense of manufacturers, following a vote by energy ministers meeting in Brussels today (4 March).
Ministers at the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (TTE) Council cast their vote on amendments to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment bill today to align it with a 2022 ruling from the EU Court of Justice declaring the EU’s law “partially invalid” due to an “unjustified retroactive application”.
Today’s vote established that costs of management and disposal of waste from photovoltaic panels placed on the market after 13 August 2012, the year the law was adopted by the co-legislators, rest with the manufacturers.
